Twin Flames
by likexcrazy
Summary: When Jacob brings Bella to First Beach to hear the tribe's stories, Leah is blindsided when she imprints on her. Now the two girls must reconcile this new reality while the shock waves of the aftermath threaten to burn down everything they know and love. F/F
1. Chapter 1 Imprint

**A/N: **This is a Bella/Leah imprint story that came about because Leah's character always fascinated me and I hated that she always got the short end of the stick. It's also a pairing that you almost never see so I thought I could do it some justice.

(plus Twilight needs more of that gay shit lmao)

Takes place during Eclipse.

Please forgive any spelling errors, I didn't have a Beta reader

_Disclaimer: All characters and references to the original Twilight series belong to Stephenie Meyer. Any cultural references written here in no way shape or form indicate the real life culture of the Quileute Tribe. No copyright infringement is intended._

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Chapter One

**Imprint**

"Think fast!"

Paul's annoying voice boomed across First Beach, and almost immediately a football whizzed by Leah's head at hyper-speed, missing her by a couple inches. Seth laughed behind her and easily leapt and snatched the football from the air with easy grace.

_One, two, three…_Leah struggled to contain her rising temper, the stack of hotdog buns in her hands vibrating as she sent a scorching glare in Paul's direction.

"Whoops," His grin was decidedly punchable as he jogged across the sand, lifting an arm as Seth wound to toss it back. "Didn't see ya there, Leah."

Asshole.

Leah bit her tongue and growled low under her breath, knowing he would hear, but he and Seth paid her no mind as they continued their game further down the beach.

She dumped the buns on the fold-up table and sighed. The sun had recently set, painting the heavy clouds above in streaks of gold and pink. Everyone had gathered, sans Jacob. Her mother was busying herself with the food, unwrapping packages of hotdogs, paper plates, and condiments. Seth had joined the rest of the guys as they played a makeshift game of football. Billy and the other elders were gathered around the firepit, Sam joining them as he dumped an armful of twigs onto the pile for kindling.

A lump formed in her throat as she watched him. He was relaxed… content, and why wouldn't he be? He had his pack and the elders, ever the glowing Alpha preening under their praise.

And of course, his imprint.

Emily sat by Jared's imprint Kim. The two huddled together, giggling and talking as they watched the guys antics. They looked like friends, best friends even. She couldn't help but think of when her and Emily would sit just like that on the beach, laughing at inside jokes and sharing stories with the local kids around a fire during the weekends when Emily came to visit. It seemed like a lifetime ago. A dream.

Now she was wide awake and in the real world where monsters were real. Hell, she herself had joined the ranks of monsters.

A feeling like nausea tightened in her gut. Leah shoved her trembling hands into the pockets of her jean jacket and turned to stomp in the opposite direction down the beach, ignoring the curious gaze of Sam as he lifted his head to watch her.

She wanted to phase. With everyone at the beach, it would be so easy to escape into her wolf and relish in the silence of pack mind. She'd pour her resentment into her stride until she was too bone-tired to feel her anger anymore.

But she knew she couldn't leave. Tonight, the elders would tell the stories of their origins.

She knew the stories of course. Everyone did. But it would be different now that she knew they were real. It gave her the chills and simultaneously sparked her annoyance. Of course, the stories never factored _her_ in, history's first ever female werewolf.

Leah huffed and settled onto a piece of driftwood, letting the sounds and smells of First Beach wash over her, chasing away the resentment that wound around her like a snake.

She could smell the bonfire now, smoky and salty as Sam managed to get it started. The others were still tossing the football around but it was clear they were winding down, joking with each other as they drifted towards the food. She knew she should head over before the greedy assholes snatched up their giant portions.

Leah stood, brushed the sand off her pants, and drifted towards the fire. Her brother grinned at her, cheeks still flushed from the game.

"Hey Lee, I saved you some 'dogs!"

She pushed most of her animosity down and managed to give him a small smile. "Thanks, kid."

No matter how angry she was, she couldn't take it out on Seth. Throughout everything that's happened to them, to their family, Seth had held onto his optimism. It was annoying at times, but comforting. She didn't know how he did it. It was so easy for her to drown but he'd always managed to keep above water.

"I'm not a kid anymore…" He muttered, puffing out his hardened chest and lifting his chin. Quil and Paul laughed and thumped him on the back.

"Sure, pup!" Quil ruffled his hair. "Ready to take on those evil bloodsuckers huh?"

Paul smirked as he loaded a paper plate with food. "Try not to trip over your tail when you run away."

Seth went to tackled him but Paul sidestepped deftly, lifting the plate as not to jostle it.

"Boys." Leah's mother watched them, a smile tugging at her usually serious expression. "Careful around the food."

The light mood was a nice change of pace. The past few weeks were a blur of patrols, training, and anxiety. Mostly from Jacob dumping all his mopey ass feelings about Bella into pack mind.

Leah couldn't stand it. They often got into it, her and Jacob. The way she saw it, she was the only one brave enough to tell him exactly what she thought about seeing him grovel after a girl who didn't even want him. Quil and Embry sure as hell wouldn't do it, Jared didn't care, Paul was all-too-happy to tease him endlessly, and of course Sam pitied him.

And Seth… he was always the peacemaker. Sometimes it was Seth who got her to back down, only so she wouldn't snap at him by accident and make him upset.

Leah had just gathered her plate when a familiar engine rumbled into the beach's sandy lot. She recognized Jacob's large form as he exited his vintage VW and made his way over, Bella in tow.

Leah tried not to scowl. Of course, he would bring the leech-lover. How it didn't breach the unspoken rules that outsiders weren't privy to pack history, she didn't know. Leah knew Bella was close with the Blacks, and she wasn't exactly out of the loop when it came to vampire stuff. Just the opposite; All Leah had ever seen or heard about the bloodsuckers from the others always seemed to involve Bella. The eye of the storm.

Her eyes almost rolled out of her head as she watched Bella trip over a log, grabbing Jacob's arm at the last second. Much to his delight.

Embry caught Leah's eye and smiled a bit. "Easy." He placated. "Be nice."

"I'm always nice." She grumbled. Mostly nice.

He laughed and went to join the others by the fire.

Leah grabbed her plate and settled into a spot next to Seth. She focused on busying herself with her hot dogs as the others greeted Bella and Jake with exuberance. She wishes they'd hurry and start the stories so she could go home.

It was just her luck that the happy couple had to settle right across the fire from her.

Jacob barely acknowledged her but Leah could hear him mention her as he spoke under his breath to Bella.

She kept her eyes trained on the burning logs as she felt Bella's eyes on her. She wondered what the leech-lover thought about her… and then wondered with surprise why she cared what Bella thought of her.

She'd only met Bella in passing. And that was before werewolves and vampires, when Leah was just a normal girl concerned about normal things like applying to colleges and prom and why her boyfriend disappeared and wouldn't call her back…

The wooden skewer Leah had been using to grill her hot dog snapped in her too-strong grip.

"You okay?" Seth whispered to her, though she didn't know why he bothered. Werewolf super senses and all.

"Fine." She clipped and let the remnants of the skewer fall to the sand.

She needed to calm down before she burst into her wolf in front of everyone. Leah closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, taking in the scents of burning campfire and stinging sea salt…

And something else woven in that made her heart stutter.

Something that reminded her of the freshness of the forest after the rain. Warmth and leaves and a sweetness that compelled Leah to fall into it like falling into world's coziest bed after a long, tiring day. It instantly melted the tension from her shoulders and she took another breath. God… what was that? Some sort of perfume? No… nothing this good could be bottled up like that. It was like… home.

Looking around the circle, she realized she seemed to be the only one reacting to the strange scent. Some sort of prank? Paul, resident prankster, wasn't even paying attention to her. Instead he was whining at Jacob over a hot dog. Not even Seth, who was closest to her, seemed to notice and he had the best nose of the pack.

Leah's eyes fluttered shut and drew in a deep breath. She had to stifle a groan of content. If this was a prank, she was going to skin Paul alive.

When she opened her eyes again, the fire had smoldered to embers and Billy Black's voice was weaving magic into the air. She listened to the tale of spirit wolves and heartbreak and third wives. Everyone was enraptured, even the ones who've heard the tales dozens of times before.

Even Bella. Leah stole a glance at girl across from her.

Bella was smaller than she expected. Or maybe she was just dwarfed by Jacob's hulking size. Bathed in the light of the dying fire, she didn't look so pale, but was considerable lighter than everyone else. Her skin was smooth and milky white, dotted by a freckle here and there. Her hair thick, flowing over her shoulders and framing her delicate features. Pillow soft pink lips... The soft curve of her nose that drew Leah's gaze up to soulful chestnut brown eyes that were intently focused on Old Quil…

Leah sucked in a breath and ripped her gaze away, staring into the embers again as Old Quil finished out the tale. She half listened, part of her was more focused on Bella's reactions. She watched her frowns from the corner of her eye when the story took a turn for the worst; Her gasp when it came to the part about the third wife's sacrifice.

Leah felt a pang of resentment. All women would ever be in stories of the past were as the sacrifices for men. It was the men who carried the burden. The men who were celebrated in glory and were passed down in stories around the fire.

A tear spilled over her cheek and Leah brushed it away angrily. Fuck that. It was time for new stories.

She opened her eyes as conversation picked up again, easy and light as the magic drifted out with the breeze.

Dusk had fallen and thick overcast blanketed the night sky. Every now and then, the crescent moon peeked down at them like a Cheshire smile.

Sam was pressing a kiss into Emily's hair, Seth was laughing at something Quil said, Embry and Paul shoved each other playfully, Jared was doting on Kim, Sue was talking quietly with the other elders, Jacob was smiling at Bella, and Bella…

Bella was looking directly at Leah.

Across the dying embers of the fire, it seemed like fate wasn't done playing with the hearts of the those that lived on a tiny beach on the coast.

_Oh…_ Her breath left Leah like a punch as she locked eyes with Bella Swan, the leech-lover.

…

She had been adrift all her life, she realized, lost in the dark. But now… Now her soul had found purchase.

…

Everything clicked into place in an instant. The universe aligning itself so she could see this truth. Suddenly everything made sense. How could she not see it before? It was a bone-deep feeling. A gratification that settled her inner wolf immeasurably. The type of feeling she'd only ever experienced secondhand when Sam thought about Emily… when Jared thought about Kim…

_Oh god…_ She thought, reeling back, her knuckles going white where she gripped the log she sat on as to not fall over. Parts of it shattered to dust in her hands and she felt the tiny pinpricks of wood pierce her palms- a welcome distraction from her whirlwind thoughts.

She was hyperventilating. She realized suddenly that Seth and the other wolves were staring at her, part confusion and part amusement. From the corner of her eye she could see Sam's disbelief. Jacob's brow knit together, dark eyes flashing back and forth between Bella and Leah.

"What…?" He began. She knew the moment he realized. It hit him like a train, and his jaw dropped.

"No…" Leah choked out.

Bella looked scared. Her eyes darted around the circle. By now the elders had caught on that _something_ had happened and they too were silent.

"Jake, what's going on?" Bella whispered.

"Holy shit!" Paul crowed, making almost everyone except for the wolves jump. "Leah imprinted!"

It was like the bang of starter pistol at a racetrack. Leah scrambled to her feet, finally forcing her eyes away from Bella. She felt hot and cold all at once.

She turned tail and sprinted down the beach as all hell broke loose behind her.

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_Please review!_


	2. Chapter 2 Burning

Chapter Two

**Burning**

She didn't get very far.

The further her long, loping gait took her, the more she wanted to turn back and wrap Bella in her warm embrace and whisk her away from the turmoil. It was like an invisible string, wrapped around her heart and tightening the further she pushed herself away from the bonfire… away from Bella.

_Why? Why me? Of all fucking people…_ She tried to find the bitterness and anger that had always followed her like a shadow and found that it was muted. She wasn't angry at Bella. Fuck, how could she be? It wasn't Bella's fault. She thought back to the look of confusion, of fear, on Bella's face... Leah groaned, falling to a crouch and burying her face in her hands.

Behind her she could hear the aftermath.

"Hold on Jake, just calm down." Billy Black soothed.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Jacob roared.

"That's hot." Quil snickered followed by the_ thwak_ of a slap. "Ow!"

"The stories never mentioned…" Sue's whisper.

"But she's an outsider…" Jared's mumbles.

"Who knew the Spirits would punish Lee-Lee for being a major bitch…" Paul snorted.

Jacob snarled at the same time as Seth's "Hey!"

And then the telltale sounds of a scuffle; Colliding muscle and makeshift driftwood being shoved out of the way as everyone, even the elders, began shouting at once.

**"Enough!"**

Sam's booming baritone silenced everyone. Even from where she sat some yards away, Leah felt the chill of the compulsion wash over her, raising goosebumps along her arms even though the Alpha Order wasn't directed at her.

"This is… unexpected." Old Quil's weathered, husky voice of authority. "But we will not dissolve into violence."

"Quil. Paul. You're on perimeter." Sam growled.

"Aw c'mon!"

"Finally, something interesting happens and you send us away…"

There was a shuffle of movement as their little camp was broken down and packed up. Leah hadn't moved. She was a crouched statue of despair against the backdrop of crashing waves.

She didn't even lift her head when footsteps broke away from the group and made its way over to her.

"Please Seth, I am _not_ in the fucking mood." She grumbled.

"Oh, I know." Emily dropped down beside her with a soft exhale. "You did the same thing when we accidentally broke Ol' Man Joe's window with that baseball when we were kids. Remember?" Her laugh was soft and sweet. "Ran like a banshee and left me to deal with apologies."

Leah didn't know what to say. The two haven't spoken properly and weeks. In retrospect, that was probably Leah's fault. Emily had always tried, no matter how awkward things had become.

She'd extended her house to the Leah and the pack. When Paul's home situation had gotten so bad that he was thrown onto the streets, Sam and Em had let him crash on their couch for weeks until he could find his own place. Emily made sure they were all taken care of. Hell, Em even lent her clothes when Leah had destroyed all of hers in her fits of anger. Even though it was usually one of the other pack members who'd bring it out to her because Leah was too ashamed to look Emily in her marred face and take it from her. When they did catch each other in human moments in passing, Emily would at least attempt to make friendly small talk.

And Leah would run. Like she did just now. Like she'd always done.

"You could've run too." Leah muttered. "Goodie-two-shoes."

"If you keep running, your problems will always chase you." Emily said, not unkindly.

Leah lifted her head, peeking at the other woman. Emily looked… peaceful. Despite everything that had just happened. Her features were calm, still beautiful despite the scars. Her long, curling hair flowed in the light breeze.

Leah had always been secretly jealous of her hair. Perfect Emily with the perfect grades and perfect hair. All the boys were drawn to her. The teachers loved her. Even Sue wanted Leah to be more like Emily. _Stop lashing out so much_, she'd chide her daughter, _Try to be more polite… Take Emily's example._

Her father was the only one that never forced Leah to be something she wasn't.

But he was gone now. Dust on the wind.

They sat in silence, Emily with that infinite patience of hers as Leah struggled with her words.

"I… She…" Leah racked her hands through her shoulder-length hair. "But we're both…"

"Female?" Emily offered. Her gaze broke from the waves to give Leah a soft smile. "The Spirits often work in mysterious ways. But they don't make mistakes. Especially when it comes to imprinting."

Leah knees pulled up to her chest. She knew deep in her bones that Emily was right. Her heart now beat softly in tune with another's down the beach. Everything in her being urged her to seek Bella out. Make sure she was safe. Make sure she was happy.

She glanced down the beach to see their group had mostly dissolved. The elders remained, deep in discussion with Sam. Embry and Seth were side by side, watching Jacob pacing a few feet away with Bella fretting at his side.

Bella's head turned toward Leah and even with the meager glow of the dying fire-light, she could see her distress.

"You can feel her… right?" Emily whispered, and Leah turned to see Emily regarding her curiously. "Sam describes it like tug in his chest. He always knows where I am. If I'm upset at something, or in 'danger'. He just knows."

"Leah." Sam rumbled under his breath, knowing she'd hear. Speak of the fucking devil.

Sam stared at her for a moment and jerked his chin. It was an Order. Something he threw around way too much for her taste.

Leah rose slowly and Emily followed suit. Time to enter the storm.

As they drew close to the group, Leah couldn't help but seek out Bella. Bella had been trying to calm Jacob to no avail but fell silent with Leah's return. Their eyes caught a second time and Leah swallowed thickly. She felt better, being so close to Bella but she was instinctively on guard with a wolf as big as Jacob close to losing control just a few precious feet away from her imprint. She bit off the low growl that fought its way up her chest on its own accord and turned to Sam.

Sam's face was a familiar, hardened mask.

"None of us expected this tonight." For a second, his mask slipped and a look akin to pity flashed across his eyes. "But Emily is right. We cannot choose the hands fate deals us." He glanced at Bella and Jacob with a frown. "Jake. Give Embry your keys. He'll get her home."

Jake glared. "What the fuck, Sam?"

"Jacob…" Billy warned.

Leah knew what Sam was doing. Jacob was a loose cannon right now and Embry was the most level-headed member of the pack. Of course, that did nothing to calm Leah because it was still the matter of fact that Sam was sending Bella right back into bloodsucker territory. And that did not sit well with Leah's wolf.

"You can't be serious." Leah growled. "You're sending her away?"

"Now Leah…" Sam looked torn.

"No! If Embry's going, then so am I!"

"And risk you starting a war with the Cullens? I don't think so!"

Leah took a step towards Sam, her fists vibrating at her sides as Sam's posture loosened into something that resembled a fighter's stance.

Billy Black put a hand on Sam's shoulder and regarded Leah with sympathy. "We've all had a long night. I know it's hard, Leah, but Sam is only looking out for you… And Bella."

"Don't I have a say in this?"

Bella's voice was hard as she pushed past Jacob. She lifted her chin stubbornly as her arms folded across her chest. "Please don't talk about me like I'm not right here."

Billy blinked with surprise. "Of course, Bella. My apologies. We just can't risk…" He glanced at Jacob and then at Leah.

Bella didn't back down. "From what I've heard about i-imprints…" She stumbled over the word, looking towards Leah, "It's like a compulsion. You said so yourself Mr. Ateara."

Old Quil nodded in acknowledgement. "This is true… But we've also never had a female wolf imprint on…"

_An outsider._ The word hung in the air with the silence and they all knew it.

Leah's lips peeled back over her teeth. _Go on. Say it old man._ She could feel Emily's calm but firm grip on her forearm. Sam shifted his weight, eyes on Emily.

Bella stepped forward, fire in her eyes as she stared down the Council. "Leah's imprinting is just as important as Sam and Emily's. Jared and Kim's. Just because she's a girl doesn't change that. Can't you see she's hurting too?"

Sue's expression broke. "Oh, Leah…" She sighed.

Jacob, stone-faced, moved to touch Bella's shoulder. "Maybe you should…"

"Back off, Jake!" Bella snapped.

Off to the side, Embry whistled low.

"Lee's gonna have her hands full…" Seth chuckled.

Leah shot him a murderous look. Inside... her wolf purred. Her little imprint wasn't as fragile as she looked.

"Stop." Sam rubbed a palm over his face. "It's late. Nobody is belittling Leah's imprint, alright?" He turned to Bella. "And nobody is sending you away. We need time to… process. Old Quil is right. Nothing like this has ever happened before but we will take the appropriate line of action."

Bella looked ready to argue but Sam lifted a hand.

"We will adjourn until tomorrow. We will have an official Tribal Council gathering. Three o' clock. There is much to discuss." He turned to look back at the Council, waiting for disagreement but Billy Black only nodded once. Sam's gaze drifted over an agitated Jacob before settling on Bella. His voice was soft now.

"You are welcome back, of course."

Bella nodded and Leah expelled the breath she'd been holding. The group broke as the elders made their way to the cars, Sam went to Emily, and Embry drifted to where Jake was still watching Bella. Emily squeezed Leah's arm in comfort before leaning into Sam's embrace.

Sue gave her a look, mix of concern and something else she couldn't place.

Leah's molars ground together. Was her mother happy that this happened to her? Or ashamed?

Sue had always been a nurturer, like Emily. She'd open her home to anyone and asked back nothing in return. She loved hosting huge spaghetti dinners or cook outs and inviting the whole block. They'd even invited Bella and Charlie once, last year. Her father, Harry, manned the grill as always, laughing with Charlie and Billy as amber beer bottles dangled from their fingers. Every now and then, he'd pull her mother into his side as she whisked food out onto the carefully prepared picnic tables. And oh, how her mother _smiled_...

And then her father died and Sue became a different woman. She held the broken pieces of her family together and put a brave face on in front of Billy and Old Quil. On some days, Leah pretended she couldn't hear her mother's quiet sobs through the thin walls in the early hours of the morning.

"Wow! What a night, huh?" Seth exclaimed from beside her.

Leah grunted as she watched Jacob shove his keys into Embry's chest. Sam clapped a strong hand on Embry's shoulder and murmured into his ear. Embry looked more serious than Leah had ever seen him before.

"Bella seems nice enough…"

Leah closed her eyes. "Go home, Seth."

"What? Don't cha wanna talk about… oh! Um… see you at home, Lee!"

Leah opened her eyes, watching with brows drawn as her brother bounded after their mother. What had…?

Oh shit. Bella was walking towards her.

_Shit. Fuck._

Leah shuffled nervously, coughing and then turning to face the ocean as Bella came to stand beside her.

Her intoxicating essence wrapped around Leah again and she almost groaned. Leaves, fresh rainfall, lavender with an undercurrent of campfire smoke and…

She growled low. She couldn't help it.

The revolting stench of leech clung to Bella like the parasites they were. She stiffened. Her wolf strained at her grip, wanting to make sure those things never touched her imprint ever again.

Before tonight, she hadn't cared one bit when Jacob had come to the pack with information that one of those things had been sniffing around Bella. Had been in her _house_. Now she had to wrangle her fury down at the very thought.

Bella rubbed her arms awkwardly. "Jeesh." She mumbled. "Something I said?"

Leah snorted. "No. You… stink." She cringed. Really Leah?

"Thanks. I'll change deodorants."

"Not like that. Just the bloods- um, Cullen's stink. _You_ don't stink at all. You actually smell... really nice." Leah blushed furiously under her russet skin.

"Oh. Jacob mentioned something about that…" Bella paused. "But thank you."

Jacob had long since disappeared into the woods, probably running off his excess frustration. She only slightly pitied Quil and Paul, forced to suffer Jake's melodramatic bullshit in pack mind. Then she remembered both of their smart-ass quips all night and swiftly revoked her pity.

They watched the waves crash against the sand. Only Embry remained, waiting for Bella in the parking lot with Jacob's car.

Leah wanted to say so much but the words were like smoke in her head, swirling out of her grasp.

_I'm sorry to drag you into my mess..._

_This doesn't have to be anything at all if you don't want it to be…_

_If a bloodsucker ever went near you again, I'd rip them to pieces without a second thought…_

It surprised her with it's intensity, but Leah knew it was true. She would rip the world apart to keep this tiny human safe.

Leah glanced at her and found that Bella was openly studying her. Their eyes met once again, every time like a shock wave to her senses. Up close, Leah could see the richness of her brown eyes. The red and copper tones in her hair...

She really was a tiny lil' thing; The top of Bella's head barely came up to Leah's shoulder. Where Leah was all sinewy muscle, Bella was soft and slender.

"Listen-"

"I-…"

They both started at the same time.

Bella smiled, and Leah was enraptured. She gestured toward Bella. "You first."

"I'm kind of… frazzled at the moment." Bella pulled her plump lower lip between her teeth. "Jake told me a bit about imprinting. He said that the wolf would be whatever the uh… imprintee wanted. Whether that's a friend, a sister…" She lowered her gaze as a blush spread across her cheeks. "A… lover."

Leah barely breathed. She didn't interrupt.

"I'll be honest, okay? I'm not…" The blush spread. "I never really thought about you like that..." Bella's eyes widen slightly. "No offense, of course! Look, I think we should at least try to get along, right? Since we're tied together now or whatever this is." Bella inhaled quickly and turned back to the ocean, resuming her word vomit. "I didn't even know you were a part of the pack. I thought you and Seth knew but… Seth! He's a werewolf, too isn't he? This is insane…"

"I'll say. Blame the stupid wolf gods or what have you." Leah groaned. She wanted to be angry, but she found she was just… exhausted. Imprinting really did a number on the psyche. "Look, Swan…" She crossed her arms. "Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not gonna kiss you alright?"

Something curled in her gut, but Leah pushed the feeling down before it could latch.

Bella dissolved into laughter. The sound buzzed around Leah's brain, bouncing through her synapses like a pinball made of velvet.

"Well... Your loss."

The space between them was charged with a budding..._ something_. Part of her mind couldn't help but wander. _If Bella had demanded a kiss… _

She pushed the thoughts away hastily.

Embry's throat clearing from somewhere behind them was lost on the waves but not to Leah's wolf hearing. She rumbled her resentment deep in her chest.

"You'll be there tomorrow?" She asked Bella.

"Billy's house? Yeah." Bella sighed. "I'll have to let Edward know. He doesn't like surprises."

This time Leah's rumbling was loud enough for her to hear. Bella jumped slightly at the noise, but she didn't seem scared. In fact, Leah had yet to scent true fear from her all night.

"Is that bloodsucker your keeper too?"

"He just worries. After everything we've been through it's understandable." Bella huffed, that stubborn streak coming back. "I go where I want."

"Yeah. Sure. That's why he roams along the treaty line whenever you're here."

Bella furrowed her brow.

"What? You didn't know? He stinks the whole place up."

"No. He never mentioned that. It doesn't matter anyways." Bella dismissed. "I know I'm safe here."

_You are_, Leah wanted to say. _You'll always be safe with me._

"Until your clumsy ass falls off a cliff. Again."

Bella huffed and naturally, swatted Leah across the shoulder. Or tried to. Because as her hand descended it was inexplicable caught in Leah's warm, gentle grip.

Bella sucked in a breath. Her eyes snapped upwards to find Leah's lidded light brown eyes melting into hers.

They were so close now. Close enough that they shared breaths. Close enough that Leah could see every freckle and the soft blush that spread across the other girl's cheeks. Her fingers curled carefully around Bella's softer than silk hand.

Leah's eyes fluttered closed and she inhaled slowly. _Fuck…_

She pitied the poor fool that would even attempt to separate her from her imprint.

Embry coughed dramatically.

Leah's eyes snapped open. She slowly turned to glare at him. He was studying his fingernails innocently, a small smile on his lips. The spell broken, Bella stepped back, her hand slipping free and drifting back to her side.

"I should go…" She sounded breathless, her face flushed. "Goodnight, Leah."

"Goodnight." Leah murmured, stock-still even as she freaked out inside. _What the hell was that?_ She didn't have an answer for herself.

Bella smiled softly, and then turned to pick her way over the driftwood, pulling her sweater tighter around herself as the breeze picked up with the sea's chill.

Embry lifted his head, hands in his pockets as he leaned against the car. He met Leah's eyes across the beach and gave her a solemn nod. He would look after her. Leah didn't doubt it. Bella and Embry had been friends long before she was ever in Leah's orbit. And Bella was pack now.

Whether the elders would accept it tomorrow or not.

Leah watched Bella climb into the car with Embry. It roared to life. The glass was hazy from this distance, but she could tell Bella watched her as they drove away.

As the red taillights disappeared around the bend and deeper into the dark forest surrounding the beach, that invisible string that wrapped around her heart tugged. She remembered how Emily described it. Except it was… more. Like one soul split evenly between two bodies. It didn't just tug.

It seared her alive.

She didn't think it would be like this.

She didn't think it would happen at all. This shit was supposed to be rare. She had seen Sam and Jared's thoughts over their imprints in pack mind but now she understood.

Bella's warm eyes, full of worry and boldness and _heat_… She couldn't forget them if she tried. As if she wanted to try.

Leah tilted her head back, letting the sea spray wash over her, peppering her face and clothes with droplets.

It did nothing to quell the flame that burned inside.

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_A/N: Thank you for all the follows/favorites so far. Hope you're buckled for the ride ;)_

_As always, reviews are thoroughly appreciated!_


	3. Chapter 3 Changes

Chapter Three

**Changes**

It was warm and familiar in the car. Bella sank into the worn leather seats as her and Embry bumped along the dirt road leading away from First Beach. Bella's fingers, still buzzing with the spark of Leah's touch, fumbled with her phone. She sent a text to Edward, letting him know she was on her way back. She didn't trust her voice not to shake and provoke his worry.

The trees whizzed by, wall of darkness on either side as the car transitioned onto smooth concrete. The secrets they held were more than she'd ever fathomed.

Somewhere in those trees, wolves patrolled with the double-edged knife of duty and vampires closed in on every side, picking off the human population with deft fingers.

There hasn't been a disappearance from Forks since the boy she had glimpsed printed on the 'Missing' flyers that covered her father's desk some weeks ago. Riley-Something. Seattle, though, was another matter. People weren't just going missing.

They were being killed off.

God, it was all so messed up.

She wondered if Jacob was out there somewhere, losing his mind too. And Leah…

Bella's heart caught in her throat.

_Leah staring at her, sparks from the dying fire pit dancing across Bella's vision as Leah's expression transformed into one of absolute shock..._

_Her face and knuckles draining of color..._

_Her lithe, athletic form charging across the sand... Away from Bella._

_And Bella's own shock that bled into a deep wave of hurt and guilt as she watched her retreating form._

That probably surprised her most of all.

She couldn't help but think that if she hadn't agreed to go tonight, none of this would have happened. The pack wouldn't be in turmoil, Jake would be his usual easy-going self, and Leah's world wouldn't suddenly have to revolve around Bella's.

"You don't mind if I…?" Embry rumbled as his beefy arm lifted towards the dashboard. The radio crackled with static before the soft strum of guitar filtered through the cab. Some old Johnny Cash song, she guessed.

Embry gave her another one of his quiet smiles. Whereas Jacob was the sun, high and bright in the middle of summer, Embry was a sunrise. He was the thinker; The cool voice of reason among the boisterous pact that was made up of him, Quil, and Jacob.

They sat in silence, letting the music fill the space. She was grateful that he wasn't the type to force conversation.

"Embry?"

Embry's attentive gaze flicked to hers before returning to the road. "Mm?"

"When did Leah and Seth join the pack?" She whispered.

His long fingers tapped against the steering wheel. "Let's see… a couple months back?" He hesitated. "It was around when Harry had his heart attack."

Bella's brow pulled together. Poor Leah. Poor Seth. She remembered her father's own grief. The tightness in his voice when he relayed the bad news to Bella over the phone. It had been right before Alice had appeared and whisked her away to Europe.

"I thought girls didn't phase…"

"None of the stories mentioned it." He glanced at her again. "They never mentioned much about imprints either."

Looking back, Bella should have been able to figure it out. When Seth had peeled away from the other boys to meet her and Jake, her eyes had widened at his impossible stature. Kid had grown like a weed in the short amount of time since she'd seen him, towering over Bella but not quite Jake's height. He'd thrown one of those brawny arms around her shoulders for a quick hug, his grin just as bright as she remembered. Wasn't he only fourteen?

Then again, Jacob was sixteen and looked as though he was pushin' mid-twenties.

And Leah had also changed. Not quite different, just _more_. She had gotten taller. She wasn't exactly beefy like the guys; Instead, she had filled out with lean muscle. Her hair been similar to Jake's before he had his own explosive transformation: Long, black, and had flowed like silk. Now it was a messy, shoulder-length cut that brought out her sharp Quileute features. Bella remembered the way Leah's arms strained against her jean jacket when she had stiffened with anger. The hard set of her jaw as she glared at Sam in challenge. She was gorgeous. That hadn't changed.

Even though Leah might've been one of the smallest members of the pack physically, she was a force to be reckoned with.

"So, every wolf gets an imprint?" It still didn't feel real. Leah imprinted on her. On _her._ Never mind the fact that they barely knew each other. And Bella was an outsider. And a girl.

"I wish." He snorted. "Maybe then Paul would shut his big mouth up about sleeping with the whole damn Reservation."

Bella couldn't help it; She cracked a smile.

"Not every wolf. It's supposed to be rare. Sam thinks it's to make sure the wolf gene gets… passed on properly." He added curtly. It was clear he didn't agree.

Bella rolled her eyes. No way that's happening in her case.

"Things are changing." He continued softly. "There's more vampires around than ever before. And now we have kids as young as Seth phasin'. Nothing is like the stories say anymore. We're all just… flying blind now."

Something told her there would be many more changes to come.

It filled her with dread. Even though Embry and the rest of the pack may have looked and moved like adults, they were still all so young. Christ, they were just kids struggling with tribe's most secret of burdens.

Bella felt a pang of sympathy for Leah. Losing her father and then getting thrust into this mess. And now the imprint.

"She must hate me." She breathed, gaze slipping from the trees to her lap. The hurt from earlier bubbled to the surface, threatening to spill over. Bella blinked rapidly.

"Who? Leah?" Embry had been fiddling with the radio again but at the sharp, unmistakable scent of tears, he focused on Bella with his brow pulled low over concerned dark eyes.

Bella nodded.

"Hey, c'mon now." He lifted his arm and she slid down the bench to rest her head on his heated broad shoulder. He smelled similarly to Jacob. Like woods, sand, and salt.

"She doesn't hate you." He soothed. "I bet just the opposite." She wanted to ask what he meant but he was already continuing. "Did Jake tell you about Sam and Emily? How she got her scars?" He waited for her nod. "He lost control _because_ he tried to stay away. He didn't want to like Emily. He knew it would break Leah's heart. In the end, it was impossible for him to stay away. It goes against an imprinted wolf's very nature."

Another memory floated to the forefront of her mind. She was in Emily's kitchen, surrounded by the pack and the smell of freshly baked blueberry muffins. Sam had stridden into the kitchen, imposing and clearly irked from dealing with Jake and Paul. Bella had thought he looked scary… until his eyes found Emily and his face changed into one of pure adoration. Then he pulled Emily into his arms and kissed her scars gently before pressing his lips to Emily's with a passion that made Bella blush.

Bella closed her eyes.

Images from before danced across her lids. Almond shaped cinnamon eyes that studied her own with an intensity that took her breath away. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before.

And Leah's hand had felt so sure and strong around hers. Heated and gentle. Bella wanted to crawl into that heat and curl up there.

Her and Edward had always been fast and sharp, like diving into an icy lake. With him, there was an undercurrent of danger that was like Novocain to her instincts. And Jacob had been the opposite. He had always been her sun. He put her back together again but, in the end, he failed to hold her together. And even though they were still friends, she couldn't help but feel claustrophobic around him sometimes. He had started crossing lines, nudging their friendship into territory Bella had no interest in breaching. She knew he would inevitably get his feelings hurt.

Leah was… different. She didn't know to what extent yet. Just the thought of exploring that… it gave her butterflies.

She just knew that Leah was a crackling campfire on a windy, cold beach, promising solace and laughter. Her whiplash sarcasm had instantly made Bella feel better.

"Bella, we're here."

Embry gently jostled her. Bella blinked awake, her head lifting from Embry's shoulder. "Huh?"

She realized they weren't on a road surrounded by forest anymore. They were parked in front of her house. All the windows were dark except the living room, it's blinds flickering dimly with the light of the TV.

She must have fallen asleep. Bella yawned and slid back across the bench.

"Thanks, Emb. For everything." Her smile was earnest and sleep-laden. He was starting to feel more and more like the brother she never had.

"Anytime, Bella." He grinned. "Even though you got tearstains on my shirt. It's all good."

Bella laughed and shook her head. "You're the one that offered the hug."

Embry teased that he was gonna send her the bill for his laundry and they said their goodbyes. He waited until she was all the way inside before peeling off.

In the living room, Charlie was nodding off in front of the TV. It wasn't that late yet, but Bella knew her father had been spreading himself thin. The disappearances surrounding Forks and Seattle lined his face with stress. Forks Police Station was a small precinct and as Chief of Police, he had been pulling doubles as of late.

Bella turned off the TV. "C'mon Dad."

"Oh hey, Bells." He blinked at her sleepily before rubbing at his lined face. "Billy called. Said something about you goin' over tomorrow?"

"He did?" She didn't think he'd call Charlie about it. Then again it was a Tribal Council meeting. About her. She tried not to let the nerves get to her. "I'm heading over around three."

"You and Jacob get into another fight?"

A twinge of guilt. "Something like that."

"Go easy on him, Bella."

"Sure." Her shoulders slumped. They said their goodnight's and she got ready for bed. Her room was surprisingly empty. She figured Edward would be waiting anxiously for her return. He hadn't let her out of his sight since their vampire guest had infiltrated her house.

Bella sat on the edge of her bed. She moved to click her lamp off and when she turned back, she almost jumped a foot in the air.

"Oh!"

Edward was sitting on the other side of her bed. He leaned casually against the headboard, golden eyes on her. She hadn't even felt the bed dip.

"Sorry, love." He lifted a hand to brush a lock of her hair back, his icy touch leaving goosebumps across her skin.

"It's fine." She exhaled slowly, her heart still jack-hammering on. "How was your night?"

Bella pulled her knees up and leaned into his side. He tugged the blanket around her before hugging her close. He felt like cold steel, so different from Embry.

"Dull without you. Did you have a good time?"

"Jake's dad told us about the old legends. It was amazing." She was glad that with her head against his chest, he couldn't see the apprehension on her face.

"You'll have to tell me about it sometime." A pause. "You're going back tomorrow."

He didn't sound angry. He stated it like a passive fact. Of course, she realized he must have eavesdropped on Charlie's phone call with Billy.

"Yes."

"I ought to have a word with Jacob for upsetting you again. I noticed he didn't drop you off. I didn't recognize the wolf who did. I followed him to the border, and he seemed reasonably protective of you. Still, I wish you called me. I would have picked you up at the treaty line." He admonished gently.

A chill went down her spine. That's why he wasn't in her room when she came up? Because he was following Embry? And delving into his head too by the sound of it. She swallowed. Did he know about the imprint? Probably not, considering he was calmly playing with her hair. As if stalking her friends and sifting through their minds was normal routine. She had expected him to be keyed up considering everything that happened in Italy. And now Victoria... And their mystery visitor. She was on edge too, but she trusted the pack. And Edward _had_ said he trusted her judgement. Didn't he?

That little fiber of doubt threatened to unravel and she had to resist the urge to tug on it. Instead, she shut her eyes tightly, willing sleep to come.

When it did, her dreams were filled with cinnamon eyes.

* * *

_A/N: Reviews are always welcome!_


	4. Chapter 4 Catalyst

Chapter Four

**Catalyst**

Embry met her at the border at two-thirty sharp. Bella was starting to feel more and more like a child being passed between two divorced parents.

Edward didn't speak on the drive over. He easily navigated along the curving road with one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting lazily in Bella's lap, his thumb rubbing circles against her jeans. She knew he was only trying to comfort her.

She had gotten dressed that morning and drifted through minor house chores in a quiet daze, nervously watching the clock tick into early afternoon. Edward was still under the assumption that she was upset at her and Jake's "fight".

She hadn't corrected him.

They came around the bend and the sight of Jacob's familiar VW Rabbit caused an uptick in her heart. She was calmed when Embry unfolded from the driver's seat instead.

"What time should I expect to pick you up?" Edward gave the wolf a dismissive once-over before turning his curious dark amber eyes to her.

"I'm not sure." How long did tribal Council meets usually last? "I'll let you know."

"Call me?" His smile was tight.

She nodded and moved to open the door. His hand caught hers and she paused.

"I love you, Bella." His face eased into his signature crooked smile.

"Love you too." She words felt foreign on her lips.

Embry greeted her with a nod as he executed a quick three-point-turn, his movements tight and controlled. He sped away from the treaty border with a little more gas than she thought necessary. Edward had sat and watched until they were gone, expressionless. Bella thought she saw his eyes narrow right before the trees obscured her view of him.

The closer they got to the Res, the more her nerves began to fester.

"Your heart's going a mile a minute, honey." Embry chuckled.

"Sorry."

"Nothin' to be sorry for."

Maybe it was the thought of seeing Leah again. She hoped Embry had been right about Leah not hating her.

They drifted into La Push, the radio buzzing quietly with a happy folk tune that did nothing to put Bella at ease.

"The Council ain't as scary as they seem." Embry hummed along with the song on the radio as Jake's familiar quaint red house came into view. The driveway was clustered with a handful of unfamiliar cars. She recognized Sue's. "You know Billy. He'll always look after you."

He was right. She'd grown up here. It had been the backdrop of her childhood almost as much as it had been Jacob's. Her and Jake used to catch fireflies in the front yard, squealing and barefoot as they chased each other around. Billy was like a second father to her. Him and Charlie would laugh as they watched them from the porch, swearing up and down they'd be attending their future wedding.

Sam's imposing figure stepped onto the porch from inside the house. It seems she was the last one to arrive.

Taking a deep breath, Bella squared her shoulders, pushed her way out the car, and marched up to meet the Council.

.

Leah did not sleep well at all.

She had gotten home around midnight, waiting until after her mother and Seth were quietly snoring away in their rooms to slip in through the dark kitchen. She didn't want to feel her mother's eyes on her all evening. Or worse, fend off questions she didn't have answers to.

After Bella left, she didn't phase like her wolf so desperately demanded and instead opted for the privacy of her own thoughts. She knew that if she phased and had to deal with the pack snickering at the shitshow that was her head, she would rip her hair out and then rip them a new one, in that order.

Instead, she wandered the beach for a while, taking in all the fresh air she could.

God, did she want to phase though.

That night she tossed and turned, pushed the blankets off, and then rearranged her pillows. The ache never went away. Bella's face flickered across the back of her eyelids like a projection on a movie screen. Was Bella alright? Was she upset?

Leah dragged a hand down her face. Her imprint was probably happy as a clam and snuggled up against her damn bloodsucker for all she knew. Her wolf was anxious, ready to jump out of her skin and sprint to Bella's house.

No. She wasn't obsessive.

…Was she?

Leah squeezed her eyes shut._ Bella was fine, Bella was fine, Bella was fine…_

She continued the mantra until somehow, she fell asleep just as the sky began to lighten.

.

The sound of Seth singing in the shower brought forth a sleepy groan of annoyance. She lifted her head slowly and blinked at her clock as it tauntingly read back 1:00 p.m.

Leah's fist slammed against the thin wall that separated her room and the bathroom. Several times.

"Shut up!" She yelled.

"Cuz I ain't no hollaback gurl!" Seth belted.

Next cliff she saw, she was tossing him off it.

Leah turned onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She didn't know what today would bring and part of her never wanted to leave her bed and find out.

The other part of her wanted to run right to Bella.

The shower cut off and Leah dragged herself out of bed. She bared her teeth at Seth in the hallway. He sprinted into his room, laughter threading behind him, and shut the door quickly before she could slap him.

She propped open the bathroom door to air out the steam and stared at herself in mirror. She had circles under her eyes and her hair resembled a lion's mane. She was glad it didn't take her long to get ready. She never wore makeup. Around the time they started high school, painting Leah's face was Emily's favorite pastime. Leah had grumbled but relented. She hated how it felt tacky against her skin and the way mascara clumped her lashes together.

Then Leah met Sam, who had always told her she was beautiful without it, and it gave her an excuse to dump the few beauty products Emily donated to her. He'd tell her she was pretty and jagged around the edges like butterfly knife.

_Yeah and_ _if you don't handle me properly, I just might cut you._

In the end, he had cut her first. Funny how life unfolded.

When Leah made it downstairs, hair brushed and dressed in something decent, Seth was already munching on a gigantic bowl of cereal.

"You headin' to Jake's?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Leah glanced at the time. Two o' clock.

Council meetings were a need-to-know basis. Even pack members had to abide by the rules. Don't speak unless spoken to and never, ever interrupt if you weren't specifically summoned. It didn't matter that the Council was made up of familiar faces—her own mother even—the elders abide by strict tradition.

She leaned against the counter, trying and failing not to think of Bella.

She wished her father was here. He'd know what to do. He always knew what to do.

Seth flicked a fruit loop at her head. "You keep frowning like that and your face might get stuck that way."

"How about I rearrange yours?"

He grinned around a mouthful of cereal.

"It'll be okay, Lee. Bella can hold her own."

Leah swallowed her surprise. Intuitive lil' shit.

"Yeah." She whispered. "She can do this."

.

_I can do this_, Bella thought to herself as she faced the Council.

Billy Black, Old Quil, and Sue Clearwater watched her. She tried not to handle the unwanted stares the way she usually did, by hiding behind her hair and crossing her arms over her chest. She fidgeted. Billy gave her a warm smile, and in it she glimpsed where Jacob got his sun.

Old Quil was a hard person to read. He was ancient, his face deeply lined and regal. She'd never seen him look anything but serious. She wondered if Quil bounced his jokes off his grandfather at home, only to be answered by one of Old Quil's thoughtful _hmm's_. She imagined that wouldn't stop the boyish Quil. Bella hid her smile.

She had yet to meet Sue's eyes.

"Bella." Her attention focused on Old Quil, her mood instantly sobering up.

"The Quileute Council has called you forth because as it seems, you are now entangled with the Great Spirit."

She clasped her hands. _Don't fidget._

"You have also been let in some of the Tribe's secrets before the proper time."

Her gaze flicked to Billy. He winked at her and some of her jitters melted. After all, it had been his son that had told her the Tribe's secrets. If he wasn't worried, she must not have been in much trouble over it.

"That can be excused." Old Quil continued. "As there have been… extraordinary circumstances at play. It's come to our attention that one of our own has imprinted. Now, imprinting is a gift bestowed on us from the Spirits. But it is not one taken lightly. The day it is taken in vain is the day great shame will be brought on this Tribe."

Bella barely breathed. She looked to Billy, needing his calm reassurance but found his smile had dried up too.

"The Spirits continue to test us. Everyday. The Spirit Wolves that grace our Tribe are not perfect. They say those closer to the beast are granted imprints to ground them to the earth and to themselves. Imprintees serve their purpose and to be one is to be blessed for all your days."

He paused, drawing in a breath.

"And the imprintee must accept this role."

It was like the pounding of a gavel. It left no room for disagreement.

Bella felt sick. The Black's living room, a place she had always found solace, felt foreign.

She thought about Sam and Emily. Jared and Kim. The love that swaddled the couples like a blanket. Wasn't that what imprinting was about?

Old Quil made it sound… twisted. Bella felt pinpricks of discomfort all over. It was like she was being signed off without her consent on the world's most conclusive marriage contract. Words like "serve" and "bound" swirled around her head like a blender.

"Bella? Breathe, honey." Billy Black soothed in a voice like molasses.

Sue was frowning at her, her eye's flitting to Old Quil worriedly.

Old Quil hadn't changed in posture or expression. His face was impassive, hard to read as ever.

"But I'm not… Quileute." She whispered.

"That's never been a factor, honey." Billy's brow knit together. He looked so much like Jacob when he did that. "You know you've always had a home here. Leah's wolf recognizes you as her other half. That makes you Quileute in Spirit. Where it counts."

In the corner of her eye, she saw Sue shift in her seat and wondered, doubtfully, if they all felt the same.

"And as you are recognized as Tribe, you are also called to protect those who have protected you." Old Quil powered on.

She didn't understand.

"Ah, Quil? We shouldn't—"

The _crack_ of Old Quil's cane against the hardwood floor snipped Billy's request into silence, startling Bella.

Both Sue and Billy stared at him with identical expressions of alarm. He leaned forward, his bony hand gripping his cane where he sat.

"What secrets have the Cullen's given you?"

It was so silent, Bella could hear the _tick tick tick_ of the old rooster clock above the stove in the kitchen.

Her mind felt like static. She wondered whether she was going to throw up, pass out, or both.

Before her or anyone could speak up, a savage roar echoed from somewhere in front of the house. It was pure unadulterated, animalistic _rage_.

Bella stiffened, her heart jumping into her throat as the council's eyes widened. Sue leapt to her feet. Billy gripped his wheelchair, fumbling to turn himself to the doorway of the living room.

"Get the **fuck** out of my way, Uley!"

Bella's head snapped up at that voice. Leah. She almost swayed with relief. _Leah was here!_

A large body collided with the Black's feeble screen door with a clatter, threatening to take the whole thing off its hinges.

"The Council hasn't called on you!" Sam thundered.

The savage snarl that followed had the goosebumps on Bella's arms doing the wave. She stood so quickly that the kitchen chair that had been brought to the living room for her was knocked back onto the floor.

Billy had wheeled himself to the juncture of the living room and kitchen. He stared at the front door that connected the kitchen to the porch, his face ashen.

"Bella, wait!" Billy reached out to grab her arm, but she hardly paid him any attention.

Bella bolted passed him, coming to a stop inches shy of the screen door. Sam almost filled out the space in front of the screen, shadowing her like a solar eclipse and obscuring her view of the porch. He trembled from head to toe, his muscles twitched under his brown skin like livewires.

"Let. Me. In." Leah's words were threaded with a boiling growl.

_"No!"_

"Leah..." Bella whispered.

That caught Sam off guard. He glanced back at her through the screen, worry dotting his expression. It was only a split second, but that was all Leah needed.

In a blur of motion, Sam was tackled into the red siding of the house, just left of the doorway before both bodies crashed to the wooden porch with a supersonic _boom_.

Bella burst out of the door, Sue and Billy yelling behind her.

She glimpsed Sam rearing back, his strong legs bunching then releasing, his bare feet springing into Leah's midsection and sending her hurtling down to the other end of the porch.

She snarled, rolling once before popping back up into a crouch. Her lips peeled back, her eyes spelling murder. She shuddered like a jackhammer.

Sam's eyes widened.

Suddenly, warm muscular arms encircled Bella from behind. She was lifted into a heated chest.

"I got ya, Bells." Jacob's husky voice was in her ear as he dove down the porch steps and took five long strides away from the house. Where had he come from..?

"Put me down!" She demanded.

"Bella!"

Bella's head jerked back to the front of the house. Leah straightened slowly, her muscles straining against her skin. It reminded her of the marble statues she'd studied in art class. Except Leah was carved from the same red-brown trees that surrounded them.

Their eyes met, entangling together like fingers reaching out and clasping in the dark.

Bella inhaled sharply. Leah's eyes were deeply worried. They broke from hers, only briefly, just enough to skip over Bella's body in assessment.

_I'm okay._ Bella mouthed.

The arms tightened around Bella. She scowled. "Jacob if you don't let me go this instant…"

Leah stalked down the stairs with the grace of a panther, her murder-face back as she stared down Jake. Sam was back on his feet and right on her heels, reaching out as though to stop her. Even Bella knew that would've been a very bad idea…

"Sam..." Billy called from behind the screen door. All three members of the Council had squeezed into the space of the doorway, peering out with frightened, round eyes.

Sam dropped his arm and stopped at the bottom of the steps as Leah charged on.

She stopped in front of Jacob. "You have three seconds, Black." She bit out, fists clenching and releasing. "Before I rip those arms off and strangle you with them."

Bella glanced up. Jacob's face was a darkened mask. His arms were an unyielding cage.

Sue pushed open the door and Billy Black wheeled onto the porch. He watched his son with an expression cut from steel. "Let her go, son."

Jacob's adam's apple bobbed once as he swallowed. With a glance over Leah at his father, he released Bella.

Leah moved almost too quick for Bella to follow. She glided around Bella and came chest to chest with Jacob, sliding herself into the space between Bella and Jacob in an instant. One arm reached out behind her, keeping Bella in her protective bubble.

"Back. Off." She growled low.

This close to Leah, all rational thought flew out Bella's mind. It was like they were on the beach again. Leah was all she could see, all she could smell. Salt and pine. Spicy and sweet.

Both wolves had pulled themselves up to their full, impressive heights. Jacob towered, and Leah wasn't that far behind. What did that make her Five-eleven? Six feet? Leah's shoulders trembled with the effort of containing her wolf. The skin-tight black tank top she wore threatened to tear right down the middle.

_Oh, Leah..._

Bella's palm flattened against the small of Leah's strong back. The tension melted immediately as if Bella had suctioned it straight up through her fingertips. Leah's body instinctively sought Bella's touch and leaned into it even as she continued glaring daggers at Jacob, who watched the whole exchange with unfathomable eyes.

"Jake." Sam called out, He jerked his chin to the trees. "Now." The heat in those two words made it a binding Alpha Order.

Almost robotically, Jacob's legs began to move. He back up, breathing slowly as he put distance between him and Leah. Finally he turned and sprinted into the trees, disappearing among them.

Leah turned to face her. Bella's fingertips skidded across her hip and she jerked her hand back. Up close, Bella could see the bags under Leah's eyes. She hadn't slept well the night before either. Bella guessed that Leah hadn't had a good night's rest for a while now. Her usually straight 'n sleek black hair was tousled from the fight, messy strands falling into her face.

"You okay?"

"Me? It's you I'm worried about!" Bella's eyes drifted down to where Sam had kicked her. The tank top rode up some, exposing the lower expanse of Leah's hard, muscled stomach. There wasn't a scratch on her. Not even a bruise.

Leah's brow popped up, lips hitching in a smirk. "You checkin' me out, Swan?"

Bella blushed, her gaze snapping back up. "In your dreams, Clearwater."

"Leah, Bella." Old Quil called from the house. The elders had spilled onto the porch. The Council had calmed down considerably but they were still on edge. Sam watched them at the foot of the stairs, his face suppressed by that mask Bella was starting to recognize.

"This meeting wasn't adjourned yet." Billy prompted softly.

Bella frowned. She seemed to shrink under the scrutiny of the Council. She didn't want to go back in there.

Just like she had done with Jacob, Leah stepped between her imprint and the house.

"Oh yes the fuck it is."

"Leah!" Sue hissed.

"No! You guys had no right to ask her that."

"You were listening?" Sue asked, exasperated.

Leah's furious silence was her only answer.

"You want to fight me at home? Fine. You want to fight Sam? That's your mistake to make." Sue turned an angry shade of pink, lips tight. Bella had never seen Sue lose her composure before. "But you will _not_ disrespect this Council."

"What a load of crap." Leah muttered. "You call cornering Bella like that and forcing her to talk about that shit a Council meeting? Fuck that."

"I know it's hard." Billy was always the voice of reason. "And I'm sorry, Bella. We didn't intend to make you uncomfortable." His eyes found Bella's somewhere over Leah's shoulder. He was apologizing for all of them. Something told her Old Quil would have never done the same.

Leah watched them with narrowed eyes. "New rule. If Bella is summoned for a Council meeting, I'm coming too."

Bella's fingers sought her again, the barest of touches against her elbow. She couldn't stop herself from reaching out to Leah. "I don't want to make any more trouble…" Bella whispered.

Leah scoffed. She didn't give the Council a chance to respond.

"If you would excuse us, me and Bella need to have a talk." Leah's hand wrapped around hers—Bella marveled at how soft her skin was—and the wolf began tugging her away from Billy Black's house. Leah threw her next words over her shoulder with vengeful aim.

"_Now_ your fucking meeting is adjourned."

* * *

_A/N: How we feelin' folks? Tell me what you think! xo_


	5. Chapter 5 Choices

Chapter Five

**Choices**

Leah didn't know where she was going. She just knew that if she stopped, she'd want to turn right back around and pummel Sam into oblivion for letting this happen. But of course, he had only heeled, sat, and rolled over for them like the good little guard dog he was. He was their fucking golden child that could do no wrong.

"Leah?"

She charged through the undergrowth, ignoring the tiny scratches against her feet that healed milliseconds later. The beach was close—she could hear the thundering waves—but she was headed swiftly in the other direction. It was a Saturday after all, and First Beach was probably clustered with families and tourists. She didn't want to go home either and face Seth's obnoxious optimism. Or worse, her mother. Leah ground her teeth together.

"Leah."

Sue had done exactly what Leah expected she'd do. Absolutely nothing. She sat passively while those two old fools berated her imprint. When Leah had first learned her mother would be stepping up into Harry's place on the Council, she thought it would be a step in the right direction. The Council was nothing more than an ol' boys club that refused to let go of their damn traditions in an ever-changing world. She thought her mother would bring new perspective. She was wrong. Surprise surprise, Sue had let them steamroll over her just like Sam had.

_"_Leah_, stop!"_

Bella's hand ripped away her from her grip, and Leah's mind snapped back to the present.

They were on a well-worn dirt path surrounded by trees, thick branches of fir and pine that stretched to the heavens. Leah could hear dozens tiny animals moving in the branches and shrubs and, very distantly, the roar of waves behind them.

Bella watched her with wide, concerned eyes. Leah realized they were both breathing hard. Bella's arms came up to wrap around herself and Leah recognized it as something the other girl did often and without thinking about.

Leah swore at herself silently. _Fuck, she needed to pull herself together._

"Sorry. I…" She sighed. "They had no right to do that to you."

Bella's brows furrowed together, and her eyes slipped the dirt. "I didn't think it would go like that." She mumbled.

Leah's chest ached in an all-too-familiar way. Her hands trembled. She had to stop herself from reaching out and pulling Bella into her arms.

"It was like they didn't even care about the imprint." Bella's voice dropped to a whisper. "They just wanted information on the Cullen's…"

Sharp, hot anger cut Leah to the bone. An exhale slipped between her teeth with a hiss as she racked a hand through her messy hair. "Such fuckin' bullshit."

Leah turned away, continuing down the path scornfully. It was a miracle the earth didn't burst to flames in her wake. Bella had no choice but to follow, her gaze shifting between the dirt and Leah's fuming form.

"I have to accept." Bella murmured.

"What?"

"They said it was an imprint's duty—"

"You don't have to tell them a goddamn thing, Bella." Leah's fists clenched at her sides. "About any of it. They don't know what the fuck they're talking about. They like to sit all high-and-mighty just because they have Sam eating out of their palms. They don't know shit. Not about vampires or imprints or _anything_."

Bella's eyes widened. "I thought whatever the Council says, goes."

"They fuckin' wish." Leah chuckled darkly. "Whatever_ Sam_ says, goes. Unfortunately."

"That Alpha thing, right? Jake had mentioned…" Her head lifted suddenly. "Jake! He was there too? Listening?"

"Yep."

"Outside?"

Leah jerked her head in a quick headshake. She had picked up Jacob's presence almost as soon as she came within earshot of the Black's house. There was Sam's calm heartbeat, the four quickened hearts of the human's inside, and Jacob's anxious, pacing one…

He was in his room, listening to the whole meeting. From his quickened breaths, probably as angry as Leah felt.

"He was inside. In his room." Leah sighed.

Bella blushed with anger, her voice incredulous. "So, he just let it happen?"

"Not by choice." Leah grumbled and Bella stared at her.

"Jake's great-grandfather was the last true Chief. And one day Jake will take his father's place on the Council. Billy probably had him there as some sort of lesson for his inevitable future."

Bella's head dipped in thought and they walked silently for a moment. Leah's anger was still there, but it wasn't at the forefront of her mind anymore. More like a pot simmering on the back burner.

She was also hyper-aware of Bella, now that it was just the two of them. Alone.

Leah kept her eyes on the path ahead, but her ears picked up Bella's every breath, every heartbeat, even the soft scuffle of dirt as she walked. With every breath Leah took, she reveled in that intoxicating scent that simultaneously sent her wolf haywire and calmed her infinitely.

Bella sucked in a breath, then forced it out slowly, as if she was preparing herself.

"Leah…" Bella's soft voice cradled the name with such intimacy, Leah almost stumbled.

"They said your wolf chose me."

Leah stopped. Her heart frenzied into overdrive as she turned to regard Bella with a look of deer in headlights. Bella's eyes flicked between Leah's, open and patient.

_Ah, fuck…_ Leah could feel her cheeks heating up. She ripped her gaze away, even as part of her protested. Her eyes moved everywhere instead; The trees behind Bella, the gray sky, the red-brown dirt beneath them… Everywhere except Bella herself.

"I'm sorry." She said finally. Apologies didn't come easy to Leah. Ever. Snarky back-handed responses, maybe. But the words 'I'm sorry' had long since dissolved in her raging waters.

And yet... with her soul bared cleanly in front of Bella, her _imprint_, they tumbled from her lips freely. _I'm so sorry..._

"For what?" Bella sounded like she genuinely didn't know why Leah was apologizing.

"This." Leah gestured between them with a wave of her quaking hand. "For all of it. Dragging you into my shit_._"

"I'm not sorry."

Leah's brows shot up. Their eyes locked together. And in Bella's unfaltering, stubborn gaze, she found that fire again. That _heat…_

"You saved me back there. I felt like… I don't know. Like I was gonna throw up right there in Jake's living room. And then you were there, and I felt… better."

Leah felt as though her heart was floating up somewhere between earth and the ether. _She made Bella feel better._

"Bella," Leah licked her lips, head bowing. A few dark locks tumbled into her face at the movement. "I need you to listen to me. The Council… they're _wrong_, okay? They have no idea. They just care about stupid stories and tradition." Her anger began to boil again. Leah shoved it aside._ Focus._ "You have a choice in this. You're not bound. You don't have to serve anyone or anything. You can ride out of this fucking place and never look back if you wanted to." Leah wished she could do the same. "This place… All this stuff… It's fucked, okay? I... I can't promise you things will be peachy-keen. Because it won't be, and you deserve a normal life. You deserve to choose your own path."

"And what if I choose you?" Bella huffed, and then blushed something fierce. "I mean…" She closed her eyes and tried again. "I get that you're trying to prevent me from getting… 'caught in your shit'. But its too late for that. I'll never have a normal life. Believe me, I've tried…" Something dark and empty flashed across Bella's features, and it chilled Leah to the bone. Her wolf whined. She wanted to reach out to her so bad...

"This is my new normal. Vampires, werewolves, whatever else is out there... I don't care, Leah." She continued, softly. "I just want to be happy."

Leah felt as if she was cracking right down the middle. _And what if I choose you?_ Bella's adamant voice echoed in her mind, over and over.

Her hands shook and for once, it had nothing to do with her wolf. With a sharp inhale, her anger seeped away, body buzzing with an anticipation she wasn't even sure she should let herself feel. Her heart was still floating and floating… Past the clouds into the beyond.

"Your happiness matters too." Bella whispered, her eyes darting over Leah's features with concern. It was as if Bella had read her mind. Or maybe just the clusterfuck of emotions that was surely written all over her face. "You deserve that, at least."

Leah hadn't let herself feel happiness in a long, long time. Ever since Sam dumped her, everything had gone downhill. Hell, who was she kidding? Even her and Sam's relationship was paved with roads littered in potholes. Some days were smooth sailing, others were jarred with emotional arguments and even more emotional make-up sex. Then the cycle would start all over again.

"I'm not easy." She choked out. "I'm not an easy person to be around." The death of her father… Explosive fights with her mother, with the pack, with Sam… Like a whetstone, it sharpened her personality to a poisonous apex.

Bella brushed a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear and smiled up at the wolf softly. "Nobody's perfect."

_Yet here you are…_ A voice whispered in her mind. Leah's gaze dropped to the ground between them. Her eyes burned in a familiar way.

"Embry mentioned Sam and Emily last night. I'm not going to let you push me away." Bella murmured.

Guilt tore into Leah like a knife through the ribs. Sam had pushed Emily away because of _her._ And Emily got her face ripped apart because of it.

"If you wanted to leave… To stay away from all this shit…" Leah's voice shuddered. Chilling pain shot down her spine at the very thought. Her wolf howled in protest. "I wouldn't stop you. It would be your choice to make."

It would hurt. God, would it hurt. Worse than the pain of phasing for the first time. Worse than watching her mother and brother crumble around the jagged hole in their family. But if Leah had learned anything from what she'd seen of Sam and Jared, it was that wolves would do anything for their imprints._ Anything_. Bella could say jump, and Leah would ask how high. She could tell Leah to stay while she left La Push and never looked back…

A droplet splashed against the top of Leah's foot. It startled her, because it wasn't raining.

A small hand blurred into her vision. Warmth bloomed under her cheek, and Leah tumbled into the feeling, closing her eyes as Bella's palm found her jaw. Bella's other hand came up, her thumb sweeping through the tear-track on Leah's cheekbone.

"Oh, Leah…" Bella whispered.

Leah's eyes fluttered opened and more tears spilled over, wetting Bella's palms further.

"I'm not going anywhere." Bella said, like an edict.

Like an oath.

* * *

_A/N: This update's a teensy bit shorter than the others, but not to worry 'cause the next one's gonna be a doozy ;)_

_Drop me a review? xoxo_


	6. Chapter 6 Reckless

Chapter Six

**Reckless**

Like the turbulent waters that crashed against the bluffs of La Push, Bella's warring emotions threatened to pull her under. Leah had been spot-on about that. It really was all fucked.

Last night at the bonfire, she could hardly wrap her mind around the impossible turn of events. She barely knew Leah but in just a few short hours, she had picked up more about her faster than anyone she's ever spent time with before. And possibly more than the other wolves that shared Leah's most intimate thoughts.

Leah may have been one of the Tribe's Protectors, with the strength of a dozen men and the sarcasm of a million more, but inside she was so…_ broken_. Gone was Leah's bravado, her mocking rancor that she wielded like an armor. It had been shucked away and fell to the dirt with a _thunk_ at their feet.

The way her voice shook, budded, and broke like the swell of a wave as she all but pleaded with Bella… It pierced Bella's soul to pieces. Leah had lost everything, and when fate threw her a lifeline made of gold, she tried to accept the concept of letting that go too. And she failed.

Bella stroked both her thumbs over Leah's damp cheekbones. _She really was beautiful._ Leah's eyes stared back at her from a face that was striking even when filled with such distress. Bella had stepped so close that she had to tilt her head back to see Leah properly. Her lashes were long and dark, framing red-rimmed chestnut eyes that, in the light of the overcast sky, were threaded with flecks of gold and green.

Before she could even tell herself not to, Bella's eyes flicked down to those lips. Luscious, pink, and plump…

In the distance, a howl clawed at the sky, brutally somber as it pitched and stretched up to the heavens before breaking off suddenly.

Bella froze, fear and anxiety straightening her spine. Was that a signal? Was Victoria back?

Leah barely reacted. Her eyes flicked up briefly to regard the clouds, head tilting in a lupine movement of acknowledgement. Slowly, Leah's heated hands came up to cradle Bella's as she lifted her face from those warm palms and straightened to her full height.

"S'okay." Leah's smoky-smooth voice was thick with waning grief. "Just Jake being a drama queen as always."

"I guess we're all having a bad day, huh?" Bella cracked a small, bittersweet smile. "I'm gonna have to talk to him eventually."

"You mean break up with him?" A ghost of Leah's snark leaked into her voice as one of her dark, feathered brows hitched in question. Bella realized Leah's tear tracks had disappeared, evaporated away by her supernaturally heated skin.

Bella groaned, her palm rubbing over her face. "If he has been telling you guys that I'm his girlfriend, I'm gonna kill him."

"Oh yeah? Think you can take him on? I'd pay to see that." Leah's lips curled devilishly, causing an unexpected dip in Bella's stomach.

"Hell yeah." With the tough talk over, Bella's tentative grin spread across her face. "You don't want to test me. I run with vampires."

"How could I forget." Leah responded dryly. "It's a fuckin' miracle you're still alive. What are you, a good luck charm?"

"Maybe…" A blush bloomed over her cheeks. Habit had her head dipping slightly, smiling at the ground and hiding behind her thick hair. Leah still held one of her hands as they stood side by side on the dirt path. Her long, warm fingers curled around Bella's loosely; Just the whisper of touches. It was as if Leah was afraid to touch her. Like if she wasn't careful, Bella would shatter to pieces.

Bella readjusted their grip, fingers intertwining and palms coming together, her creamy white hand contrasted mildly against Leah's bronzed fingers. Leah's hand swallowed hers in it's comfortable heat. She peeked up, shyly, wondering what Leah would think about the small contact… And gasped at what she saw.

Leah gazed down at her with irrefutable reverence.

Bella had never seen such peace on Leah's face before. She'd seen anger, sorrow, shock… But never this level of pure bliss. She wasn't even sure Leah herself was aware of it. That look consumed Bella like a slow, flickering flame right down to her toes. Leah squeezed her hand, almost too tightly, though it didn't hurt. Just the opposite; It grounded Bella, and she realized that Leah hadn't been afraid to touch her at all.

She had been waiting for Bella to take the leap first. Take whatever this was at her own pace.

Bella's blush deepened. "You checkin' me out, Clearwater?"

Leah's face lit in a sly smirk. "In your dreams, Swan."

With an eye-roll and a small smile at the ridiculousness of the whole thing, Bella walked on, Leah seemingly content to let her take the lead down the trail.

She found that the trail they were on encompassed the outer perimeters of the Res, bending and snaking off into the lush green forest on smaller paths. Every now and then, the hum of a car broke through the leaves from the nearby road. The birds fluttered and sang overhead. Bella thought back to her drive with Embry and wondered how she could ever think of these woods as scary. Leah was lucky to have grown up in such a stunning place.

In the corner of her eye, Bella could tell the wolf was sneaking overt glances at her. Suave? Maybe. Subtle? Not a chance.

"Do you love him?"

Bella stumbled, and Leah's arm immediately steadied her before she even thought to grab onto something. Her hand tightened around Leah's.

"Edward?"

Leah nodded. She watched Bella with riveted focus.

"Yes. With everything I have." The swift change of topic gave Bella whiplash. She contemplated before asking, "Did you love Sam?"

"So fucking much. He was my first everything. First kiss, first boyfriend... But sometimes I didn't know whether I loved him or hated him. He drove me crazy. In the good way and bad way."

Bella watched her, too. The words were about unmistakable heartbreak, but Leah said them in a way that suggested the heartbreak was a distant hill she'd already crossed.

"We fought a lot. About everything. Sometimes the littlest things that didn't even make sense. I know now that towards the end it was partly 'cause he was about to change into a fuckin' wolf." She sniffed a humorless laugh. "But we were so in love that we always made up in the end. And then he just… disappeared. And when he came back, he was with Emily."

"Do you hate him now?" Bella ventured.

"Not gonna lie, he gets on my nerves." Leah tilted her head in thought. "And I hated what he did to Emily. But I don't hate him because he dumped me. Not anymore."

Bella wondered if that was because of the imprint but she couldn't find the courage to ask. She didn't want to send Leah on that spiral or have her confront feelings she was probably still working through.

"Sometimes I want to hate Edward for leaving me. But he had a good reason, I guess." Bella murmured softly. That same darkness from before fell over Bella's eyes like a curtain and Leah jerked them to a halt.

"That's what you meant before? 'A normal life?' I remember them leaving last year but... damn."

Bella could see her putting two and two together and she swallowed nervously. "He made the decision for me. It was… a learning process." Understatement of the century. "Look, I don't want to talk about it..." It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Bella didn't know why she expected some sort of push-back. Jacob always pushed, even when he_ knew_ that Bella's words would only end up hurting him. And Leah was so head-strong, Bella thought she might too. So, when Leah only nodded and started pulling her along the trail easy-peasy, Bella had to hide her surprise.

"Sure, Swan."

"You don't mind?"

"You think I don't have a bunch of half-brained teenage guys share my thoughts enough to know a thing about privacy?"

Huh. When she put it that way…

"I guess so." Bella grimaced the more she thought about it. "Jeesh that must be a nightmare. How do you put up with that?" Jacob had lamented to her about it once upon a time. No privacy or secrets at all. But with being the only female wolf in an all-male pack, it must be a hundred times worse for Leah.

"They step out of line and they know I'll fuckin' murder them."

The corner of Bella's lips pulled up in a smile that froze in its tracks when she saw Leah's face. Leah's expression had solidified into something that resembled what she saw in Jacob's yard earlier. Leah's head tipped forward, shadowing her face in an intensely feral mask that sent a drop of fear down Bella's spine. Wild, sparkling eyes locked on hers and Bella's heart stuttering to a sprint.

That expression was one hundred percent, unfiltered _wolf_.

Leah's lips tilted up into one of her many smirks. Okay, maybe ninety percent.

She dipped her head down, her breath washing over Bella's face like a warm shiver.

_"Run."_

With a squeak, Bella ran.

Adrenaline shot through her limbs and Bella tore through the undergrowth with clumsy, noisy steps. It was completely silent around her; Even the birds stopped their songs in the presence of a predator. There wasn't a sound behind her that indicated anything was chasing her at all.

She wanted to peek over her shoulder, see if Leah had given way to her instincts. The rational part of her knew that if she looked away from the path, she'd only end up tripping into a glorious faceplant. For a second, she thought Leah was going to let her win.

Lithe, muscled arms encircled her waist and lifted her up, and Bella let loose a peal of giggles as Leah hugged her tight against her front. A wolf's growl rumbled in her ear and Bella _felt_ it against Leah's chest.

She gasped; The hardened hills and valleys of Leah's abdomen... The soft curves of her chest pressing against Bella's back… That flame in her gut threatened to broiled her alive. It was all too much.

Leah's long, athletic legs carried her through the trees and into a yard that swooped up to a quaint, two story house that was painted a chipping blue-gray. Leah set her down, and Bella pushed away, swatting at her playfully with both hands. Leah dodged every one of them, her laugh whip-sharp.

"The look on your face!" She captured one of Bella's waving hands in her own and began pulling her towards the house.

"Rude!" Bella was flushed head-to-toe and breathless, but she beamed.

"I dunno what you're talkin' about. I'm a gentlewoman." Leah shouldered the back door open and held it for Bella.

"Sure, sure." Bella rolled her eyes and turned to take in the cozy kitchen they had stepped into. She'd never seen Leah and Seth's home before. It was a similar layout to Jacob's, with a front door opening to a connected kitchen and living room. The only difference was that the front door faced a set of stairs against the wall that separated the two rooms.

The kitchen was warm and smelled of something sweet and smoky as well as the ghosts of meals past. It was all green and brown tones and rich golden wood cabinets. On seemingly every surface—the small kitchen table, the walls, the counters—were little knick knacks of handmade decorations. Tiny baskets that could fit in the palm of the hand, beaded charms that hung from the walls… It gave the room sparks of personality. Pictures, both polaroid and printed, filled the surface of the cabinets with a kaleidoscope of tiny colors.

Bella drifted closer to the pictures. Leah and Seth were in most of them but Bella also spotted a laughing Sue and a happy Harry Clearwater. She even saw one or two of a chubby-cheek Jacob and two girls Bella vaguely recognized as his two older twin sisters. Every single picture was filled with so much joy it formed a lump in Bella's throat.

"So, what's your poison?" Leah opened the fridge. "We have orange juice, apple juice, water, this shitty frou-frou seltzer Seth makes mom buy…"

"Now I know you didn't just call La Croix shitty!"

Bella turned to find Seth leaning against the doorway, grinning at her. "Hey, Bella."

"Oh please, toilet water has more flavor than that crap." Leah snorted.

"Yeah you would know, huh?"

Bella smiled as they tossed banter back and forth easily and turned back to the pictures. There was one of Leah—she couldn't have been more than three or four years old—and she was wearing a poofy, bright pink dress. Her dark hair was pulled into two pigtails and she didn't seem very happy about the situation. Her tiny face was scrunched with disgruntlement.

"Is that you, Leah…?" Bella asked incredulously as her finger came up to ghost over the image.

Suddenly, Leah was right there. _S__alt and pine._

"Whoa, hey!" She pressed a palm against the picture, effectively blocking Bella's view, and pulled Bella away from the cabinets with an arm around her waist in one, smooth move.

Seth was cackling behind them. "Ooo! Was that the one with pigtails?"

A rosy blush spread under Leah's russet cheeks as she glared at Seth. "Shut. Up."

"Don't sweat it Bella, I bet mom has bunch more just like that—"

"I still have that home video!"

Seth's cackling came to a choking halt.

A slow smile spread on Leah's face. "Yeah, you know the one. So, shut it."

Bella couldn't stop her laughter as Leah tugged her past Seth, who was rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding Leah's hard stare combined with her cocked eyebrow.

"Below the belt, Lee." He muttered.

"Like there's anything down there anyways." She rebutted.

They passed the living room briefly before Bella was being pulled up the stairs. Her stomach fluttered. Was she about to see Leah's room? Not that Bella had any complaints. She wanted to comment that Leah ought to take her out to dinner first…

Upstairs four doors, two on each side of the hallway, greeted them. Leah led her to the back right one and kicked the slightly ajar door wide open. Bella blinked as she stepped into the room.

If Leah wasn't here and Bella had to guess its owner at random, she'd think it was Seth's room. The walls were a deep indigo blue, and almost every inch of it was covered—whether by various band posters, magazine cutouts, or even just scribbled sharpie that Bella realized were lyrics. The bed in the corner was unmade and a desk in the other was piled with books, CD's, and other various items… even a small ukulele that seemed to be made from the same wood as the kitchen cabinets. A small, opaque curtain covered a single window devoid of glass. It fluttered languidly in the light breeze.

Bella moved slowly around the small space, eyes roaming over the posters. She recognized some of them as rock bands from the 70's and 60's that Charlie listened to sometimes. She passed by the desk, her fingers brushing over a worn, creased paperback. _The Outsiders._

"Stay gold, Ponyboy…" Bella smiled. She'd read the same book in AP Literature last fall. She glanced back at where Leah had leaned against door frame, thoughtful eyes on Bella. "No desk chair?"

"Broken." Leah offered with a rueful smile. "Threw it out the window."

"I see…" Explains the glass-less window.

Bella picked up what appeared to be a small bundle of grass held together by twine. She lifted it to her nose and inhaled. It was a more concentrated version of the sweet, woodsy smell she identified with Leah.

"It's sage. You burn it and it whisks away the bad juju."

"Really? In that case I should hoard this stuff by the handfuls..." Bella set it down and plucked a string on the ukulele. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah. Me and… my dad." Leah moved to the bed and sat with soft exhale. "He was always good with that stuff. Could weave any kind of basket design you can think of… Carve an animal out of any piece of wood. Seth picked it up pretty good too. Then he tried to teach me…" Leah chuckled; A hollow, sad sound. "I sucked."

Bella went over and sat beside her, concern filling her eyes. She didn't interrupt.

"My mom hated that I didn't stick with it." She rolled her eyes. "I stuck with other stuff. He showed me all his favorite bands when he was a kid. And then, when I was nine, he gave me that." She nodded to the ukulele. "Well… the pieces of it anyway. We built it up together."

Leah wasn't crying, but Bella thought _she_ might.

She wished she knew what to say. She can only imagine the amount of _I'm sorry's_ and _Your father was a great man_ speeches Leah must've heard. Enough for a lifetime. Bella hadn't known Harry, not the way Leah did or even Charlie did for that matter. So, she said the only thing she could think of.

"I'm right here." She rested her hand on Leah's, digits curling into the spaces between Leah's fingers.

Leah's hand shifted and turned up, interlocking their fingers together. She brought Bella's hand up towards her face, pressing supple lips against the back of her hand. Leah inhaled slowly, eyes fluttering closed.

"Yeah. You are." It faintest of whispers against Bella's smooth skin… And then Leah brought their clasped hands back down to her lap and gave Bella a sad smile. Bella smiled back, trying and failing to ignore the tingles spreading up her arm.

Suddenly, Leah's head jerked up, eyes locked on the window. She sat so still, it had Bella sitting up in alarm too.

"For fuck's sake…"

Before Bella could ask what happened, Leah was pulling her up. Her hand tightened around Bella's and they were through the doorway, down the hall, and on the stairs in seconds. Bella blinked, but let Leah drag her towards the back door. They were almost there when…

"Leah?" Sue's voice rang out behind them.

Leah froze, a throaty growl of frustration slipping from her clenched teeth. Bella turned to see Sue by the front door, apprehension all over the woman's face as her eyes flitted silently over Leah, then Bella. Her gaze dropped to their clasped hands and widened the slightest bit.

Leah stepped in front of the shorter girl and faced her mother. "What?" She asked flatly.

Sue's eyes hardened. "Where did you go? You had no right to disturb the Council the way you did."

"Can we please do this another time?" Leah bit out.

Sue contemplated, eyes darting to Bella, who was mostly hidden behind Leah. Finally, she sighed, walked passed the pair and further into the kitchen, dropping her keys on the counter as she did so.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Bella?"

"Um…" Bella looked between Leah and her mother awkwardly.

"Bella has things to do." Leah squeezed her hand in understanding and apology. "In fact, we were just leaving."

"...Fine. You don't mind picking up a few things for dinner then? It won't take long…" Sue began scribbling on a pad of paper. "Bella can keep me company while you're out." She ripped the page and held it out to Leah. The steel was back in her eyes.

Bella could see where Leah got her stubbornness.

Leah's jaw tightened as she snatched the page from her fingers, then scooped up the keys. "Not a chance. Bella's riding with me."

Bella was pulled out the front door before Sue could respond. Seth waved absently from where he lounged on the couch in front of the TV, completely untouched by the tension that could be cut with a knife.

In Sue's car, Leah grumbled under her breath as she yanked the driver's seat back all the way. Bella pulled her seat-belt on and tried not to ogle at Leah's tanned muscular arms, tensed with excess irritation.

She must not have been very subtle because Leah caught her eye, raised her brows, and smirked.

Bella blushed. "Stop it. Don't you start."

Leah grinned as she started the car. "I didn't say anything!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Leah messed with the radio until the wail of electric guitars and the rhythmic thump of drums blasted through the speakers.

_"I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation!"_

Leah head-bobbed as they cruised through the small village square. They rode right past the Reservation's only store, a small general store that sold the essentials. There was only one other store close by, a larger family-owned supermarket somewhere between Forks and La Push.

_"You're living in the past, it's a new generation!"_

Leah sang along, her voice as hazy and effortless as an underground busker. _Of course, she can sing too..._ Bella thought as she laughed zealously. Leah rolled down the windows just enough so that the wind whisked their hair around their faces wildly. They both sang the next lyrics.

_"A girl can do what she wants to do,_

_And that's what I'm gonna do!"_

The trees rushed by on either side of the forest highway and in this moment, Bella felt reckless and free and _happy_.

If only they'd stuck to the Res's general store.

The only warning Bella had was the sudden, inexplicable stiffness that overcame Leah. She had barely glimpsed Leah's ashen, horrified face when suddenly, everything imploded with the force of an atom bomb.

Bella screamed, high and piercing, but it was drowned out by the impossible sound of screeching metal and shattering glass.

_"Bella!_" Leah's voice was swallowed by the noise. Bella's stomach lurched with vertigo, like she was in a roller coaster tackling loop after loop. It was by whatever higher power's grace that she stayed in one piece… _No,_ she realized. It was _Leah._

Leah had managed to wrap herself around Bella in an instant, taking the brunt of the shattered glass and the mess that was mangled metal mixed with ruined upholstery.

As quickly as it started, the roller coaster spiraled to a stop. In the deathly quiet aftermath, Bella gasped a desperate breath.

"Leah?" The word was muffled against a too-warm surface. Bella pulled her face back from the soft crevice between Leah's neck and shoulder. Leah grunted and blinked down at her. There was a gash across the wolf's forehead, but it looked as though it had already stopped bleeding. Leah seemed to be all in one piece too.

"You okay?"

Bella nodded tightly. "W-what happened?" Panic shook her voice.

Leah's face darkened. "Can you move?" She asked desperately. "We need to go! Now!"

"What—"

_Screech!_

It was the ungodly loud shriek of metal, right behind Bella. In a move so fast it made her stomach roll with nausea, Bella was ripped from mangled car and out of Leah's arms.

Icy hands clutched her tightly and her head tilted back, jaw dropping as she stared into the wickedly enraged, marble face of…

_Edward !?..._

* * *

_A/N: Oof_

_Your reviews give me life!_


	7. Chapter 7 Tightrope

Chapter Seven

**Tightrope**

Edward's black, pitiless eyes swooped down to regard her with such twisted viciousness, her blood turned to ice in her veins. He must have seen her shock, her fear, how could he not? But he didn't even react to it. The Edward she'd always known—patient, kind, and loving—was gone.

This couldn't be Edward. _It couldn't._

Edward's eyes snapped back to the wreckage. Bella struggled to process what she was seeing.

Without warning, everything started moving very, very quickly. She had a vague memory of the first time Edward ran with his unbridled vampire speed with her clutched to his back. Bella choked on a scream as nausea began peaking in her stomach again. The world swirled around them in blur of deep green and darkening gray skies. The only constant was Edward and her terror. The eye of the storm.

Somewhere in the distance, a savage roar echoed against the trees. _Leah._

She was pressed so tightly against his chest, she struggled to breathe. He had always been so gentle... So very careful with touching her before. Now his fingers curled into her painfully as he carried her bridal-style.

_Oh god_, she thought. _Where was he taking her?_

Howls arose somewhere in the mass of trees, overlaying each other and mingling over the forest like cold fingers.

Edward hissed as the world came to a jarring halt. Bella's stomach rolled in protest. She wanted to speak, call out his name, but her chest heaved with the effort of drawing in a single breath.

The steel binds of his arms released her, and the forest floor rushed up to meet her like a steadfast wall. Bella sucked in a breath, tears prickling her eyes. Her fingers curled against the dirt.

Edward stood above her like a statue. Thunder rumbled in the distance. She had barely opened her mouth to scream when his icy hands were upon her. The world spun around them again, coming to a halt with her back hitting the painfully rough bark of a tree.

Edward leaned in close, his familiar features twisted with such terrible anger.

"Those _mutts_ think they can claim you?" His cool breath whispered over her skin. His marble hand held her throat tightly, just barely loose enough for her to breathe.

"I'll give that Alpha credit…" He mused, as if he was commenting on the weather over Sunday breakfast. "The dog tried to outsmart me. He didn't account for Jacob. Poor, heartbroken Jacob."

Bella trembled. A tear spilled over and raced down her blanched cheek. Edward's impassive eyes stayed locked on hers.

"Tearing through the forest in his agony… Exposing _everything_ to me." His full lips pulled back in a snarl.

"Please…" Bella managed to whisper.

_"You belong to me!"_ He hissed. Bella squeaked with fear.

Edward tilted his face to the heavens, listening to something she couldn't hear. Bella started weeping; Silent, sharp inhales kindling a torrent of tears. She couldn't speak, couldn't move. The only thing holding her up was Edward's steel grip.

"They're close. Oh, how they panic." He smiled cruelly. "And that one wolf. That one just…_ burns_ for you. It's too bad she'll die for it."

The pressure left her throat and Bella's legs buckled under her. She crumbled to the ground, sobs leaving her in quick, panicked intervals.

Edward had his back to her some twenty yards away. He stared into the dark forest, a lone stone being, as the sky rolled with another angry strobe of thunder.

A massive silver-white wolf surged from the trees and landed fluidly in front of Edward. It was almost as tall as the vampire; Roped with gangly muscle that flexed and shuddered underneath a thick, bristling coat. Its black lips peeled back over gleaming jagged teeth longer than Bella's fingers. Those teeth gnashed together as a snarl crackled across the small clearing. Bella realized it hadn't been thunder she was hearing at all. It had been the angry, piercing snarls of a _wolf_.

Bella whimpered and pulled her knees up. Her hands clapped over her ears reflexively.

Giant pointed ears flicked forward and the beast stared directly at Bella. Their eyes connected… And underneath the panic and fear, recognition tickled Bella's mind.

Edward poured into a liquid crouch.

The wolf's ears flattened, claws scrabbled against the damp ground, leaving deep gouges in the dirt. It surged forward, jaws opening wide. Edward hissed and sprinted at the wolf. Right as those jaws started to close around Edward, he leapt, propelling himself over the beast deftly. The wolf lurched up, huge front paws scratching at air as it followed the vampire's every move with myopic focus. Edward landed on the other side of the wolf, face twisted in rage, and grabbed the animal's unprotected hind-quarters.

It had all happened in seconds. Bella had no time to react, to scream, as he heaved the wolf across the clearing with ease. The wolf mowed down the trees with a symphony of _cracks_ that echoed across the space. It rolled to a stop and pushed up on shaky paws. Its large head dipped, and it let loose a growl that boiled the air with fury.

Edward's head snapped to the left, completely ignoring the animal that had started stalking forward through decimated trees towards its prey.

"No!" He snarled at the trees.

The wolf reared back to attack.

Something large and white blinked across the clearing, sending the wolf hurtling across the earth with a pained, enraged yowl. When the figure stopped, Bella gaped with surprise.

_Emmett?_

Bella's breaths got shorter. She felt lightheaded.

"Edward, stop!" Emmett tackled Edward with a large, bulky arm around his throat.

Other members of the Cullen's started flitting into existence. Jasper, with his shock of blonde hair and wiry frame, grabbed Edward's flailing arms and both vampires pinned the struggling Edward to the ground. Rosalie appeared off to the side, so astonishingly beautiful that she seemed out of place among the trees. She watched her mate with blazing, disgruntled eyes.

Darkness leaked into the corners of Bella's vision.

With an orchestra of thundering howls and jaw-snapping snarls, wolves had begun pouring into the clearing as well. The enormous, multi-colored beasts prowled forward on quiet, lustrous paws. Each and every one had its head lowered, eyes zeroing in on Edward.

The sound seeped from Bella's awareness, as if someone had twisted the volume knob down on the world around her.

She recognized Carlisle's indistinct pale form, his hands held up placatingly at the wolves as Jasper and Emmett began dragging Edward back. She thought she saw Alice's face somewhere close in front of her but when she blinked, nobody was there.

Dark spots blurred her vision.

The last thing she saw of was the hazy image of a giant silver-white wolf, sprinting right at her. Bella's eyes slipped closed.

Firm, heated arms enveloped her as she tumbled into darkness.

.

Leah was falling.

Sam had sat down with her once, in the beginning.

He watched her endure tremors that never seemed to end. His face stayed smooth and calm, even as she hurled insult after insult at him. Even when she yelled because his lack of reaction made her angrier. He sat quietly and had said, "It's going to be hard. From now on you're going to have to walk the line between yourself and the wolf. It's a tightrope, Lee. It's so easy to succumb to your anger and fall off the edge. But if you fight to stay on that rope, it will get easier. I promise you, it will get easier."

All she could think as she pulled herself up, her pack-brothers swarming around her like a waterfall, was _BellaBellaBella…_

She wanted to phase back… _Needed_ to phase. Now more than ever in her life. She reached for her humanity, but it may as well have been a ghost slipping through her grasp. She couldn't find it in the haze of choking fear and bitter wrath.

It was too crowded in her head. The pack shouted and snarled all at the same time, Sam loudest of them all. Leah couldn't comprehend their words or thoughts. She looked up and all she saw was Bella, crumpled and motionless at the base of a tree.

And everything was razor sharp.

She ran, moving so fast her paws barely kissed the earth.

_Bella needs her!_ She thought, and that tightrope emerged as if she had willed it into being. By sheer force, Leah grabbed her wolf by the scruff and _shoved_ it down. The swirling whirlpool of chaos that was pack-mind sizzled into nothingness as she snapped into her human skin, falling to her knees beside the slumped form of Bella.

Leah scooped her up, letting Bella's head fall against her shoulder gently. She stroked a warm palm over Bella's pale cheek, her head cocked to the side as she listened to the unconscious girl's shallow breaths and stuttering heart.

_She was alive._ Tears of relief pricked Leah's eyes. A ray of light in the storm before the panic descended, sending continuous shockwaves through Leah's limbs.

Bella was hurt. Leah could smell the blood from dozens tiny, fresh cuts. Pieces of glass shimmered like raindrops in her tangled hair. Bruises had begun filling shapes on her paper-white skin, the most prominent being the distinct shape of a handprint right over Bella's delicate throat. And those were just the external injuries.

Leah bowed her head, her face tucking into the soft curve of Bella's bruised neck, as a growl tore through her chest. That demon _violated_ her imprint. She hoped her pack-mates tore it to pieces. Because if she _ever_ got her hands on that thing…

Footfalls, human footfalls, gathered behind her and Leah didn't think. She reacted on pure instinct, hugging Bella close and spinning to face the incomer with a savage snarl. Jacob blanched and stumbled back, his bare chest heaving. But Leah didn't see her pack-mate. All she saw was _threat_. And then she was falling, falling, falling off the edge…

.

Bella was underwater.

Floating… Drifting… The oscillation of inky blackness stretched forever in every direction. It wasn't like last year, when she made that stupid cliff dive in an effort to feel something. It was odd, because she didn't feel wet at all. She didn't even feel cold.

Water-logged sounds began making its way through the murkiness.

_"Bella!"_

_"Shit, is she okay?"_

_"Jacob, stop! Christ, just stand back, okay? Don't touch her unless you want your hand bitten off…"_

_"Sue's on her way… She's gonna meet us..."_

_"We don't know how bad she's hurt…"_

_"Leah, please… We need to bring her to Emily's…"_

Something rumbled distantly, vibrating deep in her bones. It wrapped around Bella like an octopus tentacle and dragged her under the leagues.

.

When she finally drifted back into consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that it was quiet. She felt… sluggish. The comfortable tendrils of sleep still clung to her, almost begging her to fall back into its embrace, but the unfamiliarity of the room was jarring enough to keep her awake.

She was in a large king-sized bed piled high with quilts and pillows. The room was sparsely decorated with rustic furniture and more handmade items that reminded her of Leah's house. A single lamp on the bedside table offered dim yellow lighting, enough that she could see but not nearly bright enough to disturb her rest.

Bella rubbed the sleep from her eyes. How long had she been out? Where _was_ she…? All she could gather from the black sky that peeked between the blinds on the windows was that it must've been the middle of the night.

She stretched… and regretted it instantly. She stifled a moan of pain. _God, her body ached all over!_ Wincing, Bella pushed through the thick blankets and slid herself to the edge of the bed.

She almost didn't see her.

Leah was curled up on the floor beside the bed, deep in sleep. Her limbs twitched minutely, like a dog running in their dreams. She looked younger than Bella had ever seen her, her face smooth and calm. Except… there was a small pucker between her perfect, dark brows. And a small piece of leaf tangled in her black hair.

Memories of the evening's events hit Bella like a hurricane. With a gasp, she rolled onto her back and pressed her shaking palms to her face.

_Sue's car pulverizing around them… Leah's anguished face as she was ripped from her arms… Black, soulless eyes devouring her, savoring her fear…_

"Bella?" Warm fingers touched her elbow.

Bella sucked in a breath. "I didn't mean to wake you…"

She heard Leah snort. Bella turned onto her stomach, her cheek resting against the edge of the bed so she can see Leah.

Leah blinked up at her sleepily. Her lips curved into a sad smile before it collapsed under the weight of warring emotions. Her hand came up to cup Bella's jaw.

"I almost lost you." She whispered, eyes filling up.

Bella smoothed her fingers over Leah's mocha wrist, memorizing the silky warmth of her skin. Her own tears budded at the corner of her eyes, threatening to spill over.

"I saw you… You fought him, didn't you?" Bella shuddered at the memory. She could feel her heart quickening. _If the other Cullen's had been too late…_

"Hey… I'm okay." Leah murmured, sensing Bella's distress. "Wish I could've finished the job though." She grunted.

Bella's eyes widened. "W-What?"

"The bloodsuckers got to him before we did. Said they had him under control but… Sam's not taking any chances." Leah's brows furrowed. Amazingly, the hand against her cheek didn't shake in the slightest like Bella thought it would.

"What do you mean?" Bella frowned, glancing at the dark window. "How long have I been out?"

Leah sighed and sat up, dragging her free hand through her messy hair. Up close, Bella noticed just how bedraggled Leah seemed. The circles under her eyes were even more pronounced than before. Her t-shirt and sweatpants seemed too big, the extra fabric bunching at her hips and ankles. Borrowed clothes, no doubt. Bella wondered idly which pack-member's house she was in.

She tugged on Leah's hand. "Why are you on the floor? There's plenty of room…"

An odd expression crossed Leah's face, almost like a guilty child trying to lie their way out of trouble.

"Didn't want to hog the blankets."

"There's tons of blankets." Bella asserted. "Besides, you don't need them."

Leah rolled her eyes halfheartedly. "Look, I just wanted you to be as comfortable as possible. You went through a lot."

Bella huffed and tugged once more. "Well I'm awake now."

"You could pass out again."

"Clearwater if you don't get your butt up here…"

Leah's tired face managed to pull into a smirk at the challenge. Despite everything, Bella felt the spark of that flame in her stomach.

"I thought you couldn't refuse your imprint anything." Bella said with a small triumphant grin.

"Oh man, you're gonna pull that one on me? I see how it is…" Leah chuckled then pushed some of the quilts out of the way. "Scoot, princess."

Bella ignored her heating cheeks and shifted over to make room as Leah slipped in next to her. They both settled under the blankets. Bella's head found Leah's warm shoulder and she tucked herself against wolf's side. After a moment's hesitation, Leah's arm wrapped around her snugly.

"You're so warm." Bella muffled into the wolf's solid shoulder.

"Are you saying I'm hot?"

"Stop it." She warned, laughter beginning to bubble inside of her like a kettle. She winced. "Ow."

Leah tangled her long fingers in Bella's curtain of hair. "Stay still. You really went through the ringer."

"I'm a tough cookie." Bella hummed. "What happened after I passed out?"

Leah didn't speak and Bella lifted her face to look up at her. Leah's expression had sombered up, her brows pulled together.

"I wanted to kill that bastard. Was going to… and then those other leeches ruined it. Sam kept telling me to wait for him and the pack. But fuck, Bella… He had you. I thought…" She hissed in anger and shook her head. Bella squeezed her tightly. "Anyways, the leader? Blonde leech? He didn't want to fight, even though they broke the treaty."

Bella blinked in surprise. "They did?"

"We were still on Quileute lands when that bastard attacked the car. He crossed the treaty line to get to us." There was a deep thrum vibrating through Leah and Bella realized it was a growl. "And he attacked you, a human. He could've bitten you…" The words dissolved as the growl swelled and shuddered through her teeth.

"Wouldn't be the first time." She sighed. "Not Edward, I mean. Different one."

Her growl stopped in its tracks. "What?"

Bella pushed back the sleeve of her borrowed, too-long shirt. The crescent shaped scar on her wrist caught the dim lighting, throwing a few shimmers.

Leah ghosted a shaking finger over it, her face paling. "Jesus, Bella…"

"It was a long time ago." Bella pulled her sleeve over it. "Told you I'm tough."

"I think I'm starting to believe you…" Leah breathed, still in shock.

Bella smiled, then bit her lip. "So… Sam? What did he do?"

"Whattya think? The pack drove those fuckers out. Sam called my mom and the rest of the elders and we brought you to Emily's. He's probably has the whole pack on high-alert now in case they come back. We're not gonna risk… Bella? Hey… Bella, breathe!"

Bella sucked in a breath. She realized that she had unknowingly fisted up the front of Leah's shirt in her tight grip and loosened her fingers. _The Cullen's were gone…?_

"They're… gone?"

"Good-fucking-riddance. We're extending the patrols to Forks now that the treaty's nil."

"And… Edward?" She whispered, as if speaking his name out loud would manifest him in the room.

Leah's long fingers combed through Bella's hair and her panic melted. She tucked her face into Leah's shoulder and inhaled. _Woodsy pine, salt, sage…_

"He'll never touch you again." The words turned to gravel as the wolf in Leah echoed the statement.

Bella closed her eyes and released a deep breath. Part of her questioned how things could change so quickly in just 36 hours. It seemed like forever ago since the bonfire. Back then she was the vampire's girlfriend and Jacob's best friend. And then Leah looked at her. Now she was Leah's imprint and Jacob's…

Bella frowned. She still had to talk to him about that. She hoped he and Leah didn't fight because of her. She still wanted to be his friend, of course. And she wanted to be Leah's… well, just Leah's. Leah lingered somewhere in the valley between best friend and… something _more_. Something that gave her butterflies, made her heart soar, made that flame in her stomach spark… How strange that someone she met just yesterday could make her feel all these things. Nobody has ever made her feel like this before. Not even Edward.

Leah's fingers moved through Bella's hair rhythmically as she thrummed again, different from before. It had a softer cadence that lulled Bella. She melted into Leah's side, letting the vibration soothe her as those stubborn tendrils of drowsiness snuck around her.

"I think you we're right about me passing out again." She mumbled against Leah's shoulder, her eyes slipping shut.

"Hold on… Emily told me get her when you woke up so she could check you over." Leah shifted a bit.

"Nooo… Don't leave yet. I feel fine." Bella tightened her grip, both arms hugging Leah's middle. "Just let me rest my eyes a bit…"

"You could have a concussion." Leah sounded amused but she stilled. Her hand held Bella's head to her shoulder within infinite tenderness.

"Please?..." Bella mumbled, rubbing her cheek against Leah's shoulder, sinking into her warmth.

And because Leah couldn't refuse her imprint anything, she stayed.

* * *

_A/N: Whew! Everyone doing okay? _


	8. Chapter 8 Budding

Chapter Eight

**Budding**

Leah traced the pad of her finger along the soft curve of Bella's jaw, just the whisper of touches. Despite the nest she'd constructed of pillows and blankets for Bella, her imprint was still cold to the touch. Her skin was as pale as paper, with none of that delicious rose blush undertone she loved so much.

Next time she awoke, Leah would make sure she got some food into her. The wolf in her bones demanded she care for her imprint just as much as it wanted to tear apart anything that would threaten her.

She had already failed her on that aspect.

A sucker punch of self-loathing rocked into Leah's core as a soft hiss slithered between her clenched teeth. Her body, quivering like a bowstring pulled taut, curled around Bella's lax form, so very careful not to wake her. Her legs tangled with Bella's, one hand staying buried in the sleeping girl's rich locks while the other smoothed a warm trail down her back. Leah squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled her beautiful scent, letting it wash over her like a tide.

She was spiraling again. She knew she would.

When Bella had awoken not twenty minutes ago, soothing her worries like warm afternoon rain on a hot summer's day, Leah eyes had prickled with tears of relief.

_Bella was okay_, she had to tell herself over and over. _She's alive and talking and even jesting with her._

But now that Leah was left with her own thoughts, she was falling down that rabbit-hole. In a single evening, their lives had changed yet again.

And Leah had been so lost to the wolf's madness, it _terrified_ her.

While the rest of the pack were mercilessly chasing the Cullen's out of Forks, Sam and Seth had doubled-back. Leah danced angrily back and forth on her lithe, agitated paws, guarding an unconscious Bella. Jacob was smart enough to keep just out of biting range. He had managed to pull himself into his human form and with soothing words, was trying to break through the cast of blind lupine rage and protectiveness that had settled on Leah like tar.

They were both buzzing with fear, adrenaline, that instinctual drive to _protect_. But Jacob had made the mistake of going right for Bella at first. Leah would have taken a chunk out of him for it if Sam hadn't stepped in. Using a heavy layer of Alpha compulsion, he forced the tension down to bearable amounts.

Shaking under the stress, she had let Sam scoop up her broken imprint—his Alpha status being the only thing that kept her from charging him for even _looking_ at Bella—and they promptly sprinted to Emily's. Sam had sent Seth ahead to fill in Emily and Sue and all three were waiting with anxious eyes, benevolent hands, and furtive glances at Leah's volatile silver wolf.

It was Seth's scared, ghastly face that finally pierced the wolf's layer of impenetrable rage straight down to the girl trapped inside. The last time she'd seen Seth look so shaken, they were putting their father in the ground.

It was enough to get her to phase back.

She hovered like a ghost as Sam, Emily, and Sue talked in hurried murmurs, their hands moving everywhere over Bella and the first aid kit that also held herbal medicine. They cut her tattered, reeking clothes from her battered body and Leah's heart lurched. Bella was corpse-pale.

Leah quivered so hard the floorboards shook with the force of it.

Sam was watching her with compassionate eyes as he drifted close, gesturing towards the door. "Lee, maybe you should-"

She turned on him with a crackling snarl and flashing eyes, stopping his sentence dead in its tracks.

Everyone stilled, every eye on her. After a heartbeat, Emily and Sue began working again, casting worried glances at Leah as they cleaned wounds and iced bruises.

Sam hadn't talked to her since. Fine by her.

After they'd done all they could, Leah had _finally_ gathered her feeble imprint in her arms and brought her upstairs to the bed Emily prepared. It wasn't lost on Leah that Emily had given up her own bed for Bella. When things calmed down, she'd find a way to thank her cousin.

She'd never been so scared in her life. Not when she phased for the first time. Not when she watched her brother go through the same horror… Nothing compared to the _fear_ that seized her limbs and sent her mind down mad spiral when her imprint was taken from her.

Leah brushed back a few of Bella's thick, slightly curling locks to reveal her bruised throat. With a shuddering breath she dipped her head and pressed a kiss as soft as rose petals to a spot right over the aberration.

_"I'm so sorry."_

She will never fail her again.

.

Bella awoke to gentle dawn light filtering through the shuttered blinds and the soft _pitter-patter_ of rain on the roof. Her dreams lingered on the corners of her mind like sweet candy melting on the tongue, evanescent feelings of silky solid warmth and cinnamon eyes vanishing fast in the morning glow. She blinked and rubbed a palm over her eyes while simultaneously throwing a hand to the space next to her to find… an empty bed.

Disappointment soured her tongue.

She rolled onto her side, her unfocused gaze finding a small, palm-sized silver object on the bedside table. _Her phone…?_ Bella sat up, her head swimming at the quick motion.

_Crap, Charlie!_ Pushing her hair out of her face she reached for her phone quickly, almost disregarding the small scribbled on post-it beside it. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Bella squinted at it.

_B,_

_Em found your phone in your pockets. Bu__sted as hell __\+ s__till works_

_Billy called Charlie already, so he knows you slept over at Em's_

_Told him some kids stole mom's car and wrecked it - __Leeches owe me some wheels_

_I put my number in your phone_

_Just in case_

_-L_

Bella exhaled, the tension melting from her shoulders. At least Charlie won't be blowing up her phone. It really was busted; The screen was a knotted spiderweb of cracks and the plastic was dented and scraped all over. How it survived the crash, she had no idea. Bella navigated to her contacts and couldn't help her smile as her finger skimmed over the ten-digit number titled "Leah".

_'Just in case.'_

Bella collapsed onto her back, a blush spread over her cheeks. Part of her wanted to text Leah right now, wherever she was. She felt a bit ridiculous; She didn't feel this way when she exchanged numbers with her other friends. If she was being honest with herself, her other friends didn't captivate her as much as Leah did. The sample-sized taste she got of Leah the day before—walking and talking along the path, seeing her home, her _room_—it only made Bella want to know more. How is it they have never been friends before now?

Her phone told her it was a little past seven. She's never been much of an early-riser but she felt surprisingly well-rested. Her body was still sore, significantly less than the last time she awoke. Maybe a shower would help. She could still smell smoky car exhaust and pine needles on her hair.

Bella climbed out of bed and made her way to the door, her light footsteps creaking against the rustic floorboards. Thankfully, the bathroom was just to the right of the master bedroom. Distantly, the low buzz of a radio and the smell of sizzling bacon wafted up the hallway from the stairs.

Emily must be up too and already cooking up a storm. Makes sense, if she planned on filling all the black-holes the pack called stomachs. Bella didn't envy her. Then again, Emily never complained.

In the bathroom, she found a clean towel and another pair of borrowed clothes folded neatly on the counter, a spare toothbrush nestled on top. It was a such a simple gesture, still, a lump formed in Bella's throat.

After she had scrubbed and let the the water soothe her aches and pains, Bella dragged herself out before she could use up all of Emily's hot water. She wrapped the fluffy towel around herself and stepped into the mirror. Her eyes widened at her reflection, her mouth dropping open in a soundless gasp.

The shower reddened her skin, bringing some of her color back and unfortunately highlighting the worst of her bruises. They had deepened to a dark purple, stark and unmistakable against her skin. The one under her chin was the biggest; A ghostly purple hand wrapped around the front of her throat.

Bella shuddered away from her reflection and dressed quickly. Without another glance at the mirror, she brushed her teeth in a rush and made her way downstairs.

Emily's kitchen hadn't changed. It was just like Bella remembered: cozy, clean, and stocked enough to feed a pack of hungry wolves. Emily had her back to Bella, stirring something on the stove as she hummed along to the cheery song buzzing softly on the radio. The smell of bacon, eggs, and baked goods enveloped Bella in a toasty embrace.

Bella's stomach growled and Emily's head turned.

"I know that noise all too well." She flicked the stove off, a smile spreading on her face. Her smile was infectious, radiating well past the scars.

"Morning, Emily." Bella couldn't help her own soft grin. "Hey, um… thanks for—"

Emily shushed her, pulling Bella into a hug. Bella stiffened for split second before leaning into her soft embrace. She smelled nice, like fresh laundry and jasmine.

Emily pulled back and pressed a caring hand to Bella's cheek. Her dark brown eyes tinged with a bit of sadness as they inevitably drifted over the bruises. But then it was gone, replaced by that hundred-watt smile.

"Sit!" She demanded, nudging Bella to a tall stool by the small kitchen island. "So, what'll it be? Eggs? Coffee is just about ready and there's biscuits in the oven."

"Are you sure you don't need help with…?"

"Nuh-uh! None of that. You're the guest of honor." Emily waved her away with the flick of a spatula.

Bella ducked her head, smiling. "Coffee sounds great. Thank you."

Emily poured her a mug and Bella wrapped her hands around it gratefully, reveling in its warmth. She sat and watched Emily bustle around the kitchen in amazement as she folded eggs on the stove, flipped bacon, tended to the oven, put away dishes… She was a tornado, expertly multitasking while she sang along with the radio or chatted about funny pack stories.

Bella hadn't seen Emily in months. Naturally, she expected their first few interactions to be awkward or weird. But it felt… comfortable. It was as if the time apart was nothing at all; Bella easily clicked back into place among Emily's kaleidoscopic family like a puzzle piece.

When the food was done, she piled a plate high for Bella.

"This is too much…" Bella murmured, taking the plate.

"You're gonna want to get your fill now while there's still food. Trust me." She winked.

Bella couldn't argue with that. She tucked into her meal, wondering again how Emily kept up with the pack's appetite.

She was halfway through her omelette when she spotted two tall, hazy brown figures through the kitchen's large misty window. They appeared at the edge of Emily's huge yard, right where the trees gave way to tall grass.

Bella's heart thumped in anticipation. _Leah…?_

It only took her a moment to realize that neither of them was her wolf. Her shoulders fell and as she watched them drift into focus. The two men were shirtless, laughing and shoving each other as they ambled across the yard to the house. The morning rain streaked harmlessly over the hills and valleys of their burly torsos. Neither seemed bothered by the fact.

The bulkier of the two bounded up the porch in a single leap and let himself in, shaking the water from his inky black crewcut like a dog.

"Honey I'm hooome!" Quil grinned at them. He was huge, his linebacker form filling up the entire doorway.

He immediately bee-lined for Bella, moving like liquid on soundless feet. Bella blinked and straightened as he stopped in front of her and bent to press a smacking kiss to the top of her head. Bella's shock bled to ease… and then to tender annoyance as he snagged her half-eaten biscuit from her plate.

"Hey!" She complained, smacking his arm. He danced away easily as she laughed.

Embry closed the door behind him and rolled his eyes, pushing his slightly longer hair away from his face. He went to her and kissed the top of her head just like Quil had, lingering to give Bella a familiar smile before greeting Emily with another amiable top-of-the-head kiss.

Bella didn't miss the way the muscle in his jaw clenched when he saw her bruises.

"You guys are dripping water all over my floors." Emily chastised. She swatted Quil with a dish towel when he reached to grab a second biscuit. "And you! Grab a plate before you get crumbs everywhere."

"Yeah stop being so fat, Quil." Embry chuckled and leaned against the counter next to Bella. She let her head fall against his toasty shoulder as she nibbled a piece of bacon.

"Fat?" Quil smirked and lifted his beefy arms, flexing them proudly as he turned his head to the side and posed like an Adonis statue. "It's okay Emb, one day you'll catch up."

Bella giggled as he cycled through a handful of different poses like a bodybuilder on a stage. Emily shook her head as she turned back to the stove.

"Catch up? Like you don't always drag your ass when we run together. Slowpoke." Embry snickered.

"You wound me thusly!" Quil made a big deal of clutching his chest. "C'mon Embry don't make me pull out the big guns. You know my nipples are irresistible."

"You're such an idiot." Embry laughed even as he tried to scowl at Quil.

Quil did a poor impression of a belly dance, covering his nipples with his big hands. Bella shook with genuine laughter and Embry steadied her with a warm arm around her shoulders.

"All right, I didn't want to do this but pow! There's one! Pow! There's the other—"

"Really, Quil?" Sam strode in through the door, water dripping down his chest. His expression seemed serious, like it always was. Then his lip twitched with humor and Bella realized that in this moment, he wasn't their steadfast, stoic Alpha. He was just one of the guys.

Quil flashed his pearly whites and wiggled his hips at Sam. Sam growled at him but there was no bite to it. With blinding speed, the Alpha reached out and tugged Quil into a headlock. The two rough-housed, laughing and grunting as they each tried to get the upper hand.

"Boys." Emily called out, watching with affectionate eyes.

Sam straightened and pushed Quil away. Quil's gigantic body fell into a kitchen chair that creaked under his weight as he laughed.

Sam's face lit with a brilliant smile as his eyes locked on his imprint. It melted away the mask he usually wore like a second skin when dealing with pack business. Emily glowed. Even though the two soulmates were still across the room from each other, Bella felt self-conscious, like she was intruding on a special moment.

She glanced up at Embry and he lifted a shoulder in a knowing shrug, smiling and rolling his eyes.

Sam strode towards them and Embry's arm fell from her shoulders as he and Sam clasped hands in a firm macho grip. They held on for a beat longer than what would be considered brief and Embry gave him a nod. Sam turned to Bella and his face softened. He bent to press a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'm happy you're feeling better, sister." He murmured against her dark locks. "Leah will be glad to see you're awake."

A fresh wave of anticipation flooded her stomach with butterflies. She looked up, her eyes finding the window again. Raindrops raced each other against the backdrop of lush forest and gray skies. There was no one else in sight.

Sam noticed. He smiled subtly; His large hand came up to her shoulder comfortingly.

"She'll be here soon."

She nodded and ignored the blush on her cheeks as Sam made his way to Emily. He scooped her up happily and it was as if the entire room brightened with their joining.

Embry and Quil gathered their plates of food and bounced insults and jokes off each other like ping pong balls. Sam occasionally interloped but he was mostly too wrapped up in Emily to pay attention to them. Bella leaned against the counter, soaking up the laughter and atmosphere like a patch of sun on cloudy day.

"Whattya think, Bella? Who'd win between me and Embry?" Quil asked her.

They were stacking their fighting skills against each other, something they often did now that Quil was officially apart of the pack and possessed "cool wolfy superpowers" as he put it.

"Definitely Emb." Bella sipped her cooled coffee.

Embry grinned at her as Quil gasped dramatically. "You're only taking his side because you two are all buddy-buddy."

"He's been a wolf longer..." Bella offered.

"Are you an expert?"

"Maybe I am."

"Sure, you are." Quil snorted. "An expert in vampires. This is your what? Tenth time throwing down with a leech?"

Behind her, she heard Sam and Emily's soft conversation stop mid-word. Embry stiffened, a scowl pulling his brows together as he stared at his brother across the table. Bella could feel eyes on her back, prickling over her spine.

Quil seemed remarkably undisturbed by the sudden hush that fell on the room. He watched her with a boyish smirk, his eyes sparkling with humor. To her surprise, it calmed her. There wasn't the sharp sting of anxiety or the tsunami of memories from the night before that threatened to crash down on her.

_This was just Quil,_ she realized. The others were reacting based on how they thought _she_ might react.

Embry looked just about ready to reach across the table and smack Quil upside the head as Bella placed her mug down.

"It's certainly more times than you have." She smiled back at him.

Embry and Quil stared at her.

Quil guffawed, shaking his head and just like that, the tension broke and fell away from the kitchen like a receding wave. She could hear Sam's low chuckles behind her.

Embry barked a laugh. "She got ya there, bro."

"Sure, sure. Point to you, Swan." He gave her a lazy, two-finger salute.

She would've responded but was interrupted by the front door opening.

And Bella forgot how to breathe for a moment because Leah stood in the doorway_._

_Leah!_

She wore cutoff jeans like the rest of the guys, hers stopping about mid-thigh and exposing those powerful runner's legs. Her shirt was a sleeveless brown band shirt, soaked through and clinging to the lithe musculature of Leah's torso as if it was painted on.

Like a dormant oven turned on full blast, that flame in her chest burst to life along with her racing heart. Bella's gaze yanked up to meet Leah's. Their eyes caught each other just like in Jacob's yard the day before; Leah was all she could see.

Bella wanted to run to her. She didn't know why the urge hit her as hard as it did. Now that they were in the same room, she never wanted Leah to leave her sight again. Instead, she gripped the counter in white-knuckled death grip as Leah's shuttered expression dissolved into milk chocolate smile that sent a fresh flush of pink over Bella's cheeks.

The wolf crossed the kitchen in three loping strides. Bella eyelids fluttered a bit as Leah's woodsy scent, intensified by the rain, washed over her.

Leah's hand didn't hesitate as it lifted to Bella's cheek.

Bella's heart stuttered at the burning contact and she gazed up at the girl who, despite Bella being perched on a barstool, was still taller than her. Leah's raven locks curled gently with moisture, catching against her forehead and her neck. Bella's fingers tingled with the urge to brush it out of her face.

Leah's light brown eyes drank her in, flitting over Bella's face in assessment before dropping to her throat. Bella felt her stiffen and her fingers came up to comfortingly brush over the back of the wolf's hand.

"It's not as bad as it looks." She promised.

Leah's full lips pursed thoughtfully. "Well it looks pretty damn bad, Swan."

Her words were soft and husky, and it sent shivers down Bella's spine. It was Leah's usual bold-faced brashness wrapped around a core brimming with worry. _Worry for Bella._

Bella implicitly understood right then that even if Leah never admitted it outright, she would _always_ put Bella's safety at number one priority over everything else for the rest of her days. Even over herself.

The realization flooded Bella with an infinite tenderness for her.

_This stubborn wolf._ Bella leaned her cheek into a palm that she knew, without a doubt, would always be there for her.

Leah's brows met with concern as she gazed down at Bella with rapt attention. She must have seen Bella's quiet contemplation in her eyes.

Bella shook her head very slightly. _Later,_ she mouthed.

"Are you lovebirds gonna kiss or what?" Quil snickered from the table.

There was a _thwak_ and a _"Hey!"_ as Embry smacked the back of his head.

Bella lifted her heated face from Leah's palm and cleared her throat.

Leah barely moved at all. Her hand stayed where it was, curling into the soft curtain of Bella's dark hair. Her eyes flicked up to the heavens in annoyance, as if she was pleading with the gods to give her the strength to not turn around and thrash Quil. The gods must not have given her much because her other hand silently snaked out to Bella's abandoned plate. Bella's eyes widened.

Emily saw it too.

"Hey, now! Not my good plates." She called out, swiping up the dish before Leah could grab it and pitch it at Quil's face. Emily deposited it into the sink, Sam laughing beside her.

"If you're gonna fight, take it outside." She grumbled.

"It's all good Em." Leah sniffed a laugh and settled against Bella's side, wrapping a possessive arm around her shoulders. The warmth pleasantly bled through the sweater Bella wore. "As long as the toddlers behave."

"Don't lump me in with him." Embry complained. "Some of us have manners."

_"Some of us have manners."_ Quil mocked, pulling his voice into a high-pitched rendition of Embry's soft baritone.

"Jesus, someone please tell me why we let him into the pack." Leah rolled her eyes. "We already have one court jester."

"Easy! To keep your bitchiness from infecting pack mind."

Even Bella knew those were fightin' words. Sam must have too because he nimbly changed his position, stepping around Emily in a mercury slink so nothing would be in his way should he have to intercept any lunges.

Bella bit her lip, looking up at Leah. The wolf merely smirked, coiling a lock of Bella's hair around her fingers absently. "Don't be jealous because your only claim to fame is your stupidity."

"You're all toddlers far as I'm concerned." Emily snorted and pushed past Sam, ignoring his blink of surprise at the anticlimactic non-violence. She fixed Leah a plate. "You hungry, Lee?"

"Is the sky blue?"

"Currently? No." Emily glided the plate over and the two girls shared a small, fleeting smile full subtext you could only get from conversations shared over a lifetime of growing up together.

Bella's fingers brushed against Leah's forearm as her lips turned up in a private smile. It made her happy, knowing that whatever rocky bridge the two cousins had before was slowly but surely being patched up.

Leah barely looked at the food as she ate, quickly making work of it with the hand that wasn't wrapped around Bella. She caught Bella staring and scrunched her face adorably in a silent_ 'What?'_ as her occupied lips pulled into a smile.

Bella laughed and reached up without thinking. Her thumb dragged over Leah's sharp jawline, relishing the smooth silkiness of her flawless skin.

Leah swallowed subtly, her smile falling away and those full russet lips parting ever so slightly as Bella's thumb met the corner of them.

Bella barely breathed, staring at the perfect bow shape of Leah's lips. She could see Leah's eyes pacing between hers. She didn't know if she had the courage to meet them.

Her thumb swiped over Leah's plump bottom lip, brushing away lingering crumbs.

"You, ah… had a piece of…" Bella stuttered, suddenly aware of how quiet it was in the kitchen. She let her hand fall away before Leah could feel the tremble in her fingers.

Leah's warm hand caught hers with lightening reflexes. She slowly ferried Bella's hand back up, giving Bella enough time to pull away should she want. Their eyes locked together as the wolf pressed a soft butterscotch kiss to the pads of Bella's fingers.

Bella found a river of emotion in those eyes. Amusement, concern, awe… It was all bared cleanly for Bella as they watched her with the reverence of a newborn baby seeing the world for the first time.

Bella couldn't find a single ounce of uncertainty in that cinnamon gaze. Their steady assurance bolstered Bella's courage just enough.

"You wanna get out of here?" Bella murmured.

Leah nodded and gave her one of her classic sardonic smirks. Bella found herself smiling back, her eyes softening in a way that said, _'Don't you start.'_

Leah cocked a brow, her smirk turning into a full-on grin.

Bella ignored it and got off her stool, almost stumbling before Leah's arm was instantly steadying her. Their fingers automatically laced together as they finally acknowledged the world beyond their little bubble of intimacy.

Sam and Emily were standing shoulder to shoulder at the sink, taking their time scrubbing dishes as they talked quietly, laughed, and blew soap bubbles at each other. Sam hung onto his imprint's every word. Every now and then Emily would glance over her shoulder at the two girls with a soft smile and knowing eyes.

Quil and Embry were talking sports, ignoring the two couples without a hitch. Bella imagined they were used to all the mushiness by now.

"Thanks for breakfast, Emily." Bella met the girl's kind eyes with an appreciation that went beyond just breakfast.

"Anytime, Bella." The soft curve of her lips told Bella that Emily understood.

"Forever flaunting your cooking skills, huh Cuz?" Leah was already tugging Bella to the door, her large hand swallowing Bella's.

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Emily laughed.

"You got me." Leah snorted as she rifled through the jackets crowding a coat rack in the corner by the door. "Every night I cry myself to sleep because I can't live my dream as a housewife."

"On top of crying over how much you miss Bella!" Quil called out from the table. Bella's felt her cheeks heating up.

Leah flicked him the bird. "Bold words for someone who cried into the dirt like a baby 'cause they ate my dust last week."

Embry hooted and the two boys got into a shoving match, their elbows knocking into the small wooden table and scooting it across the floor erratically. Bella chuckled as Emily started chastising them again.

"Here we go." Leah tugged a black piece of garment free. She tugged it around Bella's shoulders. "I know I can't catch colds, but it would seriously suck if you started sneezing all over me."

Shaking her head, Bella shoved her arms through the raincoat. It was insulated, nylon on the outside and soft wool on the inside.

"Do my cooties freak you out?" She asked, pushing the sleeves up to free her hands.

"You have cooties?" Leah tugged the hood over Bella's head, intentionally ruffling her hair. "Gross, Swan. Remind me to keep my distance."

_Liar,_ Bella thought as Leah wrapped an arm over her shoulders, contradicting her own statement.

"Leah." Sam's solemn bass had Leah's hand halting on the doorknob. A thread of tension tightened the arm around Bella. She lifted her face to Leah's in question.

"Yeah, yeah…" Leah mumbled under her breath and tugged the door open. "Give it a fuckin' rest."

Sam's impeccable ears must've heard her because he didn't speak up again. Leah's sudden scowl at Sam's interruption smoothed out and her saucy smile doused the confusion on Bella's face a bit.

She lead her onto the porch and into the morning chill. The downpour had given way to a drizzle. The sky was still overcast and threatened to unburden itself once more but for now, the two could walk without getting immediately soaked.

Bella couldn't care less about the weather.

She buzzed with a strange euphoria. Strange because she couldn't remember the last time she felt this… giddy. If being surrounded by happy banter, good food, and people she was starting to consider family was a patch of sun on a cloudy day, being in Leah's presence was like standing in a desert; Nothing above except a cloudless blue sky blown wide with the heat of an unfettered sun.

"Ready?" Leah asked her.

Bella squeezed her hand. _If I'm with you._ "Always."

* * *

_A/N: Break is over and this week was back to work/school as usual :( This chapter was a bit longer to compensate the wait. _

_Anywho, ya'll know the deal! All reviews are greatly appreciated._


	9. Chapter 9 Unbowed

Chapter Nine

**Unbowed**

They ended up on the beach again.

It was deserted; Too early for locals and too rainy for visitors.

Even though it was technically spring, the chill lingered on the air like a hangover and the rainstorm that rolled in overnight from the sea fanned it in gusts that whisked Bella's hair around her face. She brushed most of it back into her hood as she walked—and stumbled—her way over pieces of driftwood and rocks.

Leah's hand anchored her, tightening instinctively just as Bella would lose her footing.

Bella couldn't stop sneaking glances at her: Admiring the way the gray-filtered light caught in her eyes; The wind throwing her raven hair across her forehead and neck in a way that looked effortlessly edgy on Leah but would've been a tangled mess on anyone else. The beads of raindrops tracing the hard lines of her exposed brown shoulders…

Bella's sneakered foot caught the edge of a hard piece of branch and her heart sputtered with a nanosecond of panic as she careened forward… and right into Leah's sturdy arm.

She heard Leah's smoky chuckle and then she was being lifted right over the piece of wood and deposited on the damp sand on the other side in the span of a heartbeat. A blush filled her cheeks as Bella looked up at the wolf with a sheepish smile.

"How the fuck did you make it this far in life with two left feet?" Leah grinned and watched her from the side of her eye as their fingers linked again.

"Pure stubbornness." Bella sniffed a laugh. "According to my mother anyway. She says I got it from Charlie."

She envied the way Leah seemed to glide over obstructions without a break in her smooth stride. The wolf didn't even have to try.

"It's probably for the best we weren't friends when we were kids. Would've drove all the adults nuts." Leah hummed, her eyes tracing the misty horizon before inevitably wandering back to Bella. "I was the most hard-headed kid you'd ever meet."

"Was?" Bella quirked a brow.

Leah kicked sand at her. It spattered harmlessly against Bella's jeans with perfect aim.

"Hey!" Bella tried to kick some back but only succeeded in getting wet sand all over the top of her shoes. Leah let loose a sharp laugh that had Bella rolling her eyes.

"I'd rather be stubborn than a total pushover." Leah added with a willful tilt of the chin.

Bella agreed… to an extent. She couldn't help but think of her parents. They were total opposites in some ways, yet the same in others. Her mother was stubborn when it came to her own needs but gave Bella free reign. Charlie laid down rules and regulations but when it came to his personality, he was pretty passive... Until he switched to what Bella dubbed his "police chief mode". And together they produced Bella: Stubborn to a fault when it counted but could see and understand different ways easily.

It was why she was so "good with weird" as Jacob had put it.

It was also why she didn't focus on the fact that Leah was another girl. Or the fact that she'd never, not once in her life, held hands with a girl the way she did with Leah.

Just that it felt so _right_. Like Leah's hand was molded with Bella's in mind.

A deep-rooted implication drifted on the peripheries of her thoughts like a whale rising from the depths but not quite breaching the surface, as if it was waiting for Bella to reach in and tug it to freedom.

"Bells?"

Bella released the breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding. She blinked away her interrupted thoughts and looked up at the wolf. Leah was watching her with concerned eyes. They had stopped walking. In the hazy distance, the bluffs rose up like a mountain. Bella hadn't realized they'd gone this far up First Beach already.

"Sorry…" Bella smiled softly and squeezed her hand. "Mind bunnies."

"Oh yeah?" Leah nudged her with a shoulder. "Spill."

Bella swallowed around her sudden nervousness even though she knew Leah wouldn't judge her. Their hands broke contact as Bella walked a few steps before sinking down onto a big piece of driftwood. Her fingers tingled, as if they already mourned the loss.

Leah's brows met with concern as she dutifully followed suit, crossing her ankles in front of her and leaning back on her palms. She watched Bella patiently from under her full lashes.

"My mother… she's never been much of a parent." Bella ventured, not quite knowing where to even start with her jumbled thoughts.

"She beat you?" Leah's eyes widened subtly.

"God, no." Bella exhaled. "She just didn't like being tied down. Still don't. I… resented her for a long time. I had to basically raise myself. But she's still my mom, yanno?"

Leah's teeth worked at her plump bottom lip for a moment. "Do you like living with Charlie better?"

"Tons." The corner of Bella's lips pulled up as she watched the waves crash against sand. "At least me and Charlie have a mutual understanding." They were both the kind of people who appreciated the simple things in life. Her mother was a bird flying free, but Bella and Charlie had always been grounded.

Leah reached over and picked up Bella's hand, sandwiching it between her two. It felt like sticking her hand in a comfortably warmed oven. Their fingers intertwined as the pad of Leah's finger softly traced patterns against the back of her hand. That along with the rhythmic beat of the waves lulled Bella.

"I wanted to run away." Leah said.

Bella stiffened, her eyes dashing to Leah's face. Leah stared at the horizon with an indecipherable expression. From this angle her sharp profile was stark against the deep gray clouds.

"Why?"

"Different reasons." Leah shrugged. "Before all this, I wanted to run away with Sam. Get married in Vegas or something stupid like that. And then shit hit the fan... Mom turned full warden. Sam of all fucking people gets to boss me around. I'm stuck with a pack full of asshole pre-pubescent boys…"

"You mean all the giants in Em's kitchen that look about thirty-years-old?" Bella couldn't help but mutter.

The humor effectively hit its mark and Leah's lips flashed up in a smile. "Toddlers."

A particularly strong gust sent Bella shivering into Leah's side. Leah's lids drifted closed, her face lifting to the sky as if it was a summer breeze.

"I wanted to phase and run so deep into Canada, I couldn't hear them anymore. No more bloodsuckers, no more Council, no more _bullshit._" She scoffed, opening her eyes. "Of course, Sam found out. Gave me a whole big speech about duty and responsibility and… purpose. Like I fuckin' asked for this shit. Like any of us asked for this."

Her words prompted Bella's memory of the moment right before they had walked out the door. "What was the deal between you and Sam before? Back at Em's?"

Leah's exasperated exhale was sharpened with the undertone of growl. Leah's fingers trembled in hers as the wolf began to stir. Bella squeezed her hand tightly. She felt like she was playing tug of war with Leah and the wolf, with Leah being in the middle.

"The Council wants to see you about the attack. I told Sam no-_fucking_-way. He said it was your decision."

A raindrop splashed against Bella's hand and she stared at it as her shoulders rounded with discomfort, her chin tucking.

It's not that she didn't understand why they would call on her again. Of course, they'll want to know all about the attack. The Council also wanted all the info they could get regarding the Cullen's now that they were public enemy number one.

It's just that, well, they intimidated her.

She also really wasn't so keen on re-living the details of the crash anytime soon…

Leah's arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into a heated side. Her touch quelled Bella's rising anxiety like the hush of rain over a campfire. Bella pressed her cheek against that firm shoulder, leeching off her warmth.

"You don't have to talk to them." Leah soothed in a husky voice spiked with traces of irritation. "If anything, you can tell me, and I'll relay it to them myself"

Bella wondered if it would even make it that far; Leah would absolutely lose it once Bella told her the things that vampire had said to her. A shiver ran down her spine. She couldn't even think about his name without associating it with bone-chilling terror.

"I'll think about it." Bella whispered and breathed in her comforting scent as a lupine purr bloomed under her cheek from the depths of Leah's chest.

They watched the gray-blue waves as the dense clouds rolled overhead. The world was beginning to awaken around them. The seagulls began calling to one another as far down the beach, fisherman began prepping for the day, human-shaped specks of gray and brown on the southern harbor.

"Do you ever… think about where you'd be if you hadn't phased?"

Leah hummed, her thumb moving absently over Bella's knuckle.

"I'd be finishing my senior year. Prom, applying to college, all that nonsense." She tossed the words like a blasé stone skipping over surface of the sea before it sank into its depths, forgotten. Her nose wrinkled. "I'd probably still be with Sam."

To Bella, it sounded an awful lot like she was describing someone else's life. It was like she was reading a story out of a book, Bella was unable to imagine the force of nature that was Leah in the caricature of high school girl worried about prom and boyfriends. From the way she spoke about it, she guessed Leah couldn't imagine it either.

"My dad would still be alive."

Her hand didn't shake in Bella's, but Bella squeezed as if it had. Her eyes jumped back up to Leah's profile.

Leah watched the waves, her feathered brows pulled low over fierce eyes. The wind pulled harmless at her toffee skin and black hair; She was as steady as a California redwood, unbowed to nature's havoc.

"You can't blame yourself for that." Bella struggled to find the right words to make it better. She remembered Charlie telling her that there was nothing the doctors could've done.

Leah released a breath that seemed to draw from deep in her soul. When Bella glanced back, the wolf's eyes had lost its ire. The hollowness in them was heart-wrenching. Before Bella could begin to shore up something else—anything else—to say, Leah unfolded gracefully to her feet.

"C'mon." She coaxed softly, urging Bella up with their clasped hands. "I want to show you something."

Leah lead her to the trees as they mulled in their thoughts. Bella couldn't help but feel guilty about bringing up the subject to begin with.

Sandy beach led to tide pools, which led into trees and finally, a back road.

Bella clutched Leah's hand like a lifeline, her other hand coming up to wrap around Leah's forearm as she stumbled over terrain. She held on even after she regained her footing.

"Leah?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm really glad you didn't run away."

Leah slowed. Her hand came up to gently brush a stray lock of long brown hair back from Bella's cheek. Bella's eyes fluttered closed as she felt the soft press of full lips against her hairline. Leah's warm breath tickled her hair, her words rolling out with the hum of the now distant waves.

"Me too."

.

Leah didn't have to think about where she was going as she walked. She knew every trail, every path, every road as well as the veins in her wrists. She'd walked them countless times. As a child, she ran among these trees, her knees dirtied with the mud of the tide pools.

This was her home. The tree's branches rustled with the wind and they said _hello_ and _welcome_.

Bella clutched her arm; her fingers cool on her bare skin. Somehow bringing Bella here felt more intimate than when she had brought her to her room.

They turned off the road and down an unmarked path. Leah's hand reached out, her fingers skating across the gouges of red bark trees and damp leaves.

Her father's voice whistled through her mind like a breeze, telling her that Cherry wood was best for chip carving and Butternuts were soft enough for a pocketknife.

She remembered her frustration when he tried to teach her. The block of wood had turned to a mass of splinters in her hands. So naturally, she'd sent it hurling into a puddle out of frustration.

Her father just laughed with that endless patience of his. _"If you keep giving up, you'll never get better."_ Her eleven-year-old self had stomped away from him.

Now all she felt was regret, pooling inside her and turning her feet to lead.

She focused on her surroundings: the wind gustier than ever, the wet scent of rain heavy in the air, Bella's heartbeat completely in tune with hers...

They were close, working their way up the bluffs that rose above La Push. Even the birds offered no songs as the tree's barks seeped from red to gray to white.

"They're beautiful." Bella murmured, face tilted up to watch gray sunlight filter through pale green leaves just starting to bloom.

She could hear Bella's hushed, awed breaths as they wove around branches as white as bone. It _was_ beautiful, the leaves whispered against each other in a way that was subtly different from leaves anywhere else on the Res. These branches had memories caught in them, pale and dying in the cold nights, in a way that the other trees didn't.

_"Don't let anyone ever tell you what you can or can't love."_ She was seven, sitting on her father's lap while he consoled her because the other kids made fun of her love for "old music".

Leah's hands started to shake and in the corner of her eye she saw Bella's face turn to hers.

_"You can't wait for things to come your way, Lee. You'll have to go out an' grab 'em."_ She was thirteen and her father was sitting in his favorite chair by the fire, his enduring hands working on pair of earrings with turquoise beads. They were for her.

The white aspen barks thinned down as old gave way to new. Just saplings really.

Harry stood by the grill, an amber bottle in one hand. His other hand smelled like charcoal and leather as it reached up to pinch her cheek, then ruffle her raven locks. She simultaneously hated and loved the gesture because it marked her as a child and as his. He smiled at her and his eyes crinkled with happiness.

_"You got the strength of a hundred bears in you, kid. You be sure to use that and do great in the world."_

_I'm trying, dad._

Leah stopped walking, so sudden that Bella took another step before she stopped too. Her eyes watched Leah, worry etched all over her face. Bella was squeezing her hand, her arm, but Leah couldn't feel it.

Another memory forced its way through like a flood:

Harry Clearwater, the color draining from his lined face as Leah's spine cracked, and her blood turning molten in her veins. Pain wiped away every single thought, even her own name. Her knees buckled, refusing to hold her weight as her bones crumpled to dust and reformed. The torture had stretched on forever.

A moment later, Harry had fallen too.

"Leah?"

Back in the present, Bella was tugging at her arm, but it was like tugging on a statue. Leah could smell the salty tang of tears even though her face was dry.

"Leah…"

She knew she'd have to say goodbye to him one day. That was the natural order of things. Circle of life and all that crap. But not like this. _Not like this._

Leah stared at the young aspen in front of her. She hadn't come back here. Not since…

For the first time since she phased, Leah had never felt so cold.

Her eyes traced the words etched into the bark.

_Harry Clearwater_

_Beloved husband, father, son._

.

Bella watched Leah's form blur and break as tears welled up and spilled down her pale cheeks.

Leah's fingers had fallen slack, releasing Bella's hand. She watched the tremors slither its way up Leah's arms as if it was trying to shake her down from the inside out.

Those cinnamon eyes that were so expressive, always feeling and reflecting the wolf's emotions with a hundred percent honesty, looked like empty shells of their former brightness.

Bella wanted to call out but couldn't speak around the suffocating pressure of tears.

She read the words on the tree and her breath caught in her throat. All around them, white aspen trees watched over like ghosts and she saw them for what they really were.

Grave markers.

Leah was motionless and Bella felt as if she was watching behind an impenetrable glass wall, unable to help or make any difference at all. Her hand was firm on Leah's trembling arm, and her other was reaching up to Leah's ashen face.

It never made it there.

Leah crumpled gently to the ground. She was a curled form, hands up behind her head, face pulling in to her knees, so far beyond tears that Bella didn't know what to do.

Maybe it was desperation to break through that glass. Maybe it was the pain she could feel rolling off Leah in waves. Maybe both.

Bella dropped to the ground and threw both arms around Leah's quivering shoulders as a broken sob wrenched from her lips. Somewhere along the way, her hood had tugged free, spilling her chocolate brown hair over them both.

"Please," She begged, "What can I do? What do you need?"

"Bella." Leah whispered, and in that one word, Bella heard agony.

"I'm here." Bella's face pressed against the curve between Leah's neck and shoulders. Tears mixed with dewy raindrops that already clung to Leah's toffee skin. "I'm right here."

_"Get back…"_ Leah's voice was as hoarse as wet sandpaper. Her wild black hair obscured her face from Bella like a curtain.

_She was losing control,_ Bella realized with sudden urgency. Those strong shoulders shuddered underneath her, struggling to contain the beast that reared its head in the wake of Leah's misery.

This wolf had taken on vampires for her. And she would take on the entire world for her. She held it together for Bella before; held her when she was broken…

Now it was Bella's turn.

"I told you already." Bella's voice was heavy with tears, but it didn't shake as she brushed Leah's hair away from her face and cupped her jaw.

Leah's beautiful features were twisted in anguish. Her eyes squeezed shut as her teeth clenched around the beginnings of a growl that softened to a hiss at Bella's touch.

Bella inhaled sharply as those eyes flashed open. They darted over her face, filled with so much desperation and fear and grief. Another swell of tears spilled down Bella's cheeks and she waited for Leah's eyes to focus on hers.

"I said I wasn't going anywhere" Bella whispered. "I meant it."

Leah made a wordless cry of sorrow and gathered Bella into her arms. She pulled Bella into her lap and pressed her face into her shoulder, her body curving around the smaller girl.

"It's so fucked up, B." She gasped against her skin, the heat of her breath fanning over Bella's neck. "I'm so fucked up. I did this."

Bella's legs wrapped around Leah's waist and her hand dove into Leah's raven hair, fingertips rubbing at the wolf's scalp soothingly. "Why on earth would you think that?"

"Because I'm the reason he's dead. He saw me phase and he…" Her words broke, her frame shuddering.

Bella's fingers stilled and the rest of the world fell away as she struggled to understand the magnitude of what Leah was telling her.

"Seth too." Leah's voice was ragged. "He saw everything… It's my fault. All of it."

"No."

Something rose up in Bella and hardened her voice. She jerked her head back, and then her hands where everywhere; pushing Leah's hair out of her face, stroking over her jaw, over her cheeks… Trying everything to get Leah to focus on her and only her.

Bella always protected her friends to a fault. Sure, she was always the quiet one. The easy-going one. But she was stubborn and could stand up to any bully, challenge anyone who talked down on her or anyone she cared about. She had always been small, and she couldn't fight with her fists even if her life depended on it, but words were formidable weapons. And when it came to the people she cared about, she would fight tooth and nail.

Especially if she had to protect them from themselves.

"Leah…"

Leah's yawning, _bleeding_ gaze met hers once more.

"None of this is your fault. Not your father or brother. You can't blame yourself for something you couldn't help. You didn't have a choice in any of it. And neither did Seth." Bella swallowed, trying to keep up the momentum of her words even as her heart shattered inside. "Sometimes bad things happen, and sometimes the best things happen. That's just life. Its awful. And then amazing. And then awful again… And in between all that, its ordinary and mundane and breathtaking. We just gotta hold on through the awful... And when the ordinary comes, we get to relax. We enjoy it and don't take it for granted. Just… just hold on, okay?"

Leah stared at her the same way Bella stared up in wonderment at the stars at night when she was a kid.

Her wide eyes drank in Bella's determined face. Then they fluttered closed, her voice a soft whisper.

"Okay."

Bella smoothed her thumbs over Leah's russet cheeks, gathering tears and rain droplets away from her face. With a soft exhale, she leaned forward, her eyes closing as their foreheads met.

For a moment, they just shared breath.

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

Their heartbeats fell into step with each other, as in tune as the sun and moon.

Bella's skin burned at the contact, but it wasn't enough. They were forehead to forehead… Nose to nose... Cheek to cheek.

Then, lip to lip.

The world stopped rotating on its axis as Bella's lips brushed over, full, soft, russet-pink lips. She felt rather than heard Leah inhale, and Bella froze, her anxious mind already spinning with Leah's possible rebuff.

Suddenly those strong, steady arms tightened around her, tugging her forward so there was no space between them. The most intimate parts of Bella pressed against firm muscle and soft, round breasts.

Before she could even process the sensation, heated lips surged forward and crashed into hers.

The flame in her chest burst to life and Bella's fingers grasped at dark wet locks. Bella melted into the kiss, molding her lips around silken softness that was nothing short of heaven. She tasted tears and rain and everything in between. She could also taste Leah's desperation and pain... calming and smoothing out into gratifying calm.

She felt Leah's heart against her chest, thumping madly as their lips parted in a unified gasp. Their noses nudged against each other as they struggled to catch their breaths. Bella could feel Leah's fingertips digging into her hips, holding her so close they were like one being. Two sides of the same coin.

She already missed those lips.

She leaned in and captured them again in a kiss bursting with the sweet tenderness of a ripe peach in the middle of summer. Leah obliged with a groan of pure need and it sent a shock of heat down Bella's spine. Their lips moved together slowly, lazily, and Bella's fingers curled around the back of Leah's neck. Wondrously, those lips parted and the velvet brush of tongue against hers threatened to undo Bella.

All too soon it ended, but Leah's lips didn't stop.

They pressed over her chin, her nose, her cheeks... Leah's hands sneaked up to tenderly cup her jaw, holding Bella's face between them as soft butterfly kisses landed and took flight all over.

Bella's lips tugged up in a supple smile as Leah kissed away forgotten tears. Her hands came to rest on Leah's wrists, holding on tight to her wolf.

Her eyes opened and Leah pulled back just enough to meet them.

"What have I ever done in life to deserve you?" Leah whispered in a voice bursting with awe.

"Just being Leah is enough." Bella murmured, rubbing soothing circles against Leah's wrists with her thumbs.

In the middle of a graveyard, in the middle of the woods, in the middle of a storm… both girls smiled.

And the flame in Bella's chest never burned so bright.

* * *

_A/N: Drop me a review? xoxo_


	10. Chapter 10 Ballad

Chapter Ten

**Ballad**

They were at the very top of the bluffs.

The sea stretched on forever, a blanket of ever-shifting blue that bled into dark gray clouds on the horizon. In the other direction, so much green it rivaled the blue. And La Push was nestled between them like a keeper of both. The beach they had walked on that morning was just a strip of tan, so tiny Bella could hardly distinguish what specks were people and what was driftwood.

It was beautiful. She imagined how it would be in the summer when the sky was clearer—or as clear as it ever got in the misty Pacific northwest.

It was windier too, so much so that Bella thought she would fly away. She hissed as the draught of air whisked around them, her arms wrapping around herself tightly. Leah's hands came up to rub the tops of her arms over the raincoat.

"I knew I should've waited until this stupid storm passed." Leah huffed.

"I asked you to bring me." Bella leaned back against her. "Besides, a lil wind never hurt anybody."

Leah cocked a brow and looked her up and down. '_Oh yeah?' _that look said.

Bella tried to smother a smile even as she shivered. "Shut up."

She leaned back against Leah and took in the view. The short walk up from the white aspen woods to the edge of the bluffs had been quiet. Sadness still lingered like a cloak. Bella could see it in the tensed muscles in Leah's back and in the shadows of her eyes as they walked. Still, they both buzzed with the high of the kiss. Little by little, it chased the darkness away.

"Can you see them from here?" Bella murmured after a moment, her eyes roaming over the forest and to the mountains beyond. "The pack?"

"Nah... We know how to stay hidden. If they howled, I'd know which general area. I'd have to phase to know exactly where they were." Her arm slid around Bella's waist, as if she'd done it a hundred times before. Just like when they held hands, it felt natural. Comfortable.

Bella's head tilted back and rested against Leah's collarbone as she looked up at her. The tired circles under Leah's eyes were still prominent. "Is Sam giving you today off?"

"Most of it. We'll switch off when the sun sets."

Bella's mama-bear protectiveness flared up like a matchstick. "He should be giving you more than just the daytime. You need to sleep too."

"Easy, tiger." Leah pinched her hip, and it sent a twinge of heat through Bella. "I'll sleep when you're at school tomorrow."

Bella frowned. She had forgotten all about school. It was a little mind-numbing; Here they were in the middle of deadly supernatural conflicts and, depending on if the Cullen's came back, the brink of maybe war. Yet she still had to go about life like normal. Thoughts of tests and homework seemed so far away. No wonder Leah all but abandoned that life.

"Are the Cullen's really gone for good?" Bella whispered.

Leah gently turned her so that they were face to face. Leah's expression looked cut from steel and when she spoke, her words were dripping blood.

"They won't be back anytime soon. The pack will watch over Forks." Leah's eyes moved above her head, scanning the picturesque view. "We're keeping an eye out for that redhead bitch, too."

Bella's fingers found the front of Leah's shirt, curling into the material as her forehead tipped forward to press over Leah's heart. She didn't think it was the rest of the Cullen's that would be a problem…

Leah's hand slipped up, cupping Bella's cheek and tipping her face back up. Their eyes met; Leah gazing at her with brows drawn.

For a moment, Bella marveled at how the same hands that could savagely rip apart a vampire without a second thought could just as easily hold her imprint's face with such tenderness.

It was at that moment the sky decided to unburden itself.

Bella cursed the heavens as raindrops picked up around them until, without warning, it was a downpour.

Leah's eyes flicked up to the clouds then back to hers with a raised brow. "Let me guess… A lil rain never hurt anybody?"

"Shut up…" Bella laughed and tugged on her hand.

Shoulders hunched against the rain, they jogged to the trees for coverage. She thought about the long walk back down to the village and almost groaned.

Leah glanced at her, sensing her distress.

Bella shook her head. "Just a bit winded…"

"Alright, princess." Leah pulled up in front of her and folded down to a crouch without a beat. "All aboard."

Bella blinked, then her face split with a smile. She wrapped her arms around Leah's shoulders and Leah rose smoothly, hooking her arms under Bella's knees. Bella couldn't help but tuck her face into Leah's damp hair, where her comforting woodsy scent intensified. She felt Leah's answering purr vibrate through her torso.

And then, Leah _sprinted._

Bella gasped and squeezed hard enough to choke a normal person, the wind and rain spiraling past her face. She felt Leah's chest buzz with laughter. With a burst of inhuman strength, Leah pushed off the ground even faster.

The speed was break-neck fast, even in her human form. Her liquid gait barely jostled Bella as she leaped over rocks and wove around trees like second nature.

Bella's hood fell, her hair tugging free and dancing in the wind. Her wild laughter scattered behind her like a trail of breadcrumbs.

The rain only seemed to pick up even more as Leah neared the village. Bella started to feel a little self-conscious being carried as they jogged past the first few houses and a handful of cars on the road. Other than the passing cars, they didn't see anyone else outside like them. Just another sleepy, rainy Sunday on the Reservation.

"I can walk now, you know." Bella wiggled her dangling feet and Leah tightened her grip.

"You could…" Leah mused, her voice steady and her breaths even, not the least bit tired. "But then you'd slow us down and we'd get even more drenched."

Bella tugged on a wet lock of black hair. "Speak for yourself. Some of us use raincoats."

"Are you forgetting I gave you the damn thing?" Leah snorted.

"Of course not." Bella laughed and pressed a kiss to the back of Leah's warm neck. "Such the gentlewoman."

She heard Leah's sharp inhale. When wolf spoke, her voice was huskier than usual. "Told you I was."

"We'll see." Bella hummed as they neared Leah's house.

They rushed inside and Leah carefully deposited her on the counter before flicking on the kitchen light, bathing them in yellow. The rest of the house was quiet, all the blinds drawn and the rest of the rooms as dim as the overcast clouds warring outside.

Bella carefully took the sopping raincoat off. Her sweater had survived but her jeans and sneakers were another story.

"Looks like you were right…" Bella's words drifted off as she lifted her head and her eyes found Leah.

The wolf was half turned away from her, a hand buried in her raven locks as she shook the water from her hair and ran her fingers over her scalp. Bella swallowed, her eyes tracing the bulging lines of her sculpted shoulder and bicep. A drop of water raced down the edge of that sharp jaw and another crept down the curve of her neck before it disappeared into her sodden shirt—which was plastered to her chest and left _nothing_ to the imagination.

Bella sucked in a quiet breath and it ignited a flash of heat that started in her thudding heart and ended somewhere between her legs.

"About what?" Leah looked up at her, then tilted her head with the strangest expression Bella had ever seen on her face. Surprise, maybe?

"B…?"

Bella blushed furiously and cleared her throat, dropping her eyes to the raincoat in her lap. "My uh, jeans _are_ drenched."

She risked a glance up. A small smile was working its way on Leah's face. Something about that familiar cheeky smirk chased away Bella's bashfulness. She was well versed in Leah's brand of snark. _That,_ she could navigate.

"Be a dear, would you?" Bella lifted a muddy, sneaker-clad foot to Leah, her dark brown eyes sparkling in challenge.

"You know, when I call you 'princess,' I don't mean literally." Leah rolled her eyes and made her way over, smoothly ducking to a crouch in front of Bella.

Her long fingers curled around Bella's ankle and Bella had to stop herself from closing her eyes at the heat of the sensation. Leah worked one shoe off and then the other, tossing each one with perfect, effortless aim somewhere near the front door.

She stayed crouched as her fingers lingered on Bella's ankles.

Bella could feel her own heart beating so loud that it would be impossible for Leah not to hear it.

Leah's hands inched upward, the pads of her fingers skimming over the wet denim on Bella's calves. Her eyes were lidded, focused, and those supple lips parted ever so slightly.

Heat stirred in Bella's gut.

Leah's head lifted and their eye's locked together. Bella stared as Leah's pupils expanded, and she could see the wolf in her fierce yet feminine features, staring back at her.

Leah blinked once and slowly unfurled to her feet, her muscles moving in liquid tandem with each other. She stepped forward, her hipbones touching Bella's knees as her hands rested on either side against the counter, caging Bella in.

Bella struggled to breathe as Leah's presence washed over her like a warm tide. Despite her conflicting, confusing emotions, she found the tension evaporating from her shoulders the way it always did when Leah was this close.

Bella closed her eyes, because if she stared at those lips any longer, she'd be tempted to taste them again.

"Bella?" Leah murmured.

Bella opened her eyes. There was an undoubtedly human emotion on Leah's face now: apprehension.

"Yeah?"

"Back at the bluffs..."

Bella silenced her with a gentle hand over her collarbone. Leah inhaled sharply at the touch. "You had to grieve."

"It's not that…"

Bella bit her lip. "The kiss?"

Leah nodded, her shoulders tense.

Her posture worried Bella. "You didn't want it…?" She whispered.

"No, no!... I mean, _yes_. I did. I wanted it." Leah flushed, rosy red under her russet skin and pushed a hand through her hair. "Look, I want to do right by you, and I don't exactly have a good track record when it comes to relationships. And this… I've never had anything like this. Like you."

Bella relaxed slightly. She traced Leah's collarbone with her fingertips. Its shape reminded her of the curving lines of butterfly wings.

"I used to have a pet hermit crab." She murmured, her fingers lingering right over Leah's heart.

Leah's brows pinched together.

"When I was little." Bella tried to ignore her spreading blush, "I found him on the beach. And since I wasn't allowed to have a cat or a dog, I kept him as a pet. Charlie even gave me a glass jar to keep him in, so I filled it with sand and some seawater for him. And then, one day, I was changing the water and I dropped him on bathroom floor by accident. And he curled up inside his shell, but I figured he had that hard shell, so he was fine, just startled… But inside, he was delicate, and me dropping him killed him. Even though he had that shell."

Her eyes lifted to Leah's. "You have this hard shell around you… But inside…"

"I've been dropped before." Leah expelled a soft, melancholy puff of breath. "Too many fucking times."

"Lee…" Bella's hand lifted to her jaw. "When are you gonna give yourself permission to be happy?"

Leah was quiet. Her head turned, lips brushing Bella's fingers. When she spoke her breath tickled Bella's fingertips.

"Do you want this?" She didn't have to specify what_ this_ was.

"Yes." Bella didn't hesitate. She didn't have to think about it. "Do you?"

Leah's answering smile was brilliant, a thousand-degree sun burning away any lingering doubts or sadness. Her hands found Bella's waist, and Bella's giggle tinkled across the kitchen like spilled uncooked rice.

Their lips met like two pieces of a whole falling back together.

Its heat sizzled across Bella's skin, igniting that flame of desire until it was a roar in her ears. In the back of her mind, Bella pondered that it shouldn't have been this easy. This _comfortable._ It should have felt like kissing a stranger, but it wasn't.

A low growl built in the back of Leah's throat as Bella felt the sweep of tongue tempting her lips open. Bella answered, deepening the kiss with a hitched moan.

They were pressed against each other, Bella's legs locking around Leah's firm body. Leah's hands were everywhere, grabbing her thighs, her hips, her waist…

She needed more...

Bella gasped, her lips falling from Leah's as she felt the undulating pitch of the wolf's hips, right into the apex of her flash-fire need. _She felt so good…_

Leah ripped away with a gasp, her arms trembling where they'd locked around Bella.

"Fuck…" She hissed.

Bella struggled to catch her breath, her hands grasping at Leah's shoulders.

Leah's hand rose to Bella's cheeks.

Whatever Leah saw in her face had her cinnamon eyes had darkening, feverish with desire. Her lips were slightly swollen and moist, so utterly kissable.

"S-should we take it down a notch?" Bella whispered even though parts of her clearly wanted to continue. Her mind whirled. The kiss was like a tornado, dispersing her thoughts to the wind.

Leah nodded, her thumb stroking over Bella's flushed cheek. She was still looking at Bella like she wanted nothing more than to devour her whole.

"You know…" Leah chuckled, "I ought to take you on a date."

Bella blinked away the static in her head. "And they say romance is dead…"

"You're lookin' at the queen of romance, Swan." Leah cocked a brow and turned out of Bella's arms towards the fridge, her fingers drifted along Bella's thighs as she did so. Bella buzzed at the contact and the aftershocks of the kiss.

Leah's whole being seemed to glow with it too, and Bella smiled softly. It was almost hard to believe, knowing she could do that to Leah.

Bella hummed as she watched the wolf pull out the fixings for sandwiches. "I don't need fancy dinners or dancing."

"Good, because I can't do that frou-frou shit." Leah's hands moved deftly as she talked. "Our dates are gonna be movies and McDonald's, so prepare yourself."

Bella laughed. "I'm swooning."

"I know. I have that effect."

Bella rolled her eyes, grinning.

After their sandwiches had been reduced to crumbs—Bella had watched with astonishment as Leah devoured four of them, each spilling over with deli meat and cheese—they spent the rest of the day hanging out in Leah's room.

Leah had put on some music, some soft classic rock playlist, as Bella perused Leah's small book collection. Mostly school requirements and a few on poetry. The poetry surprised Bella at first… then the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Music and poetry went hand-in-hand.

She picked up an old paperback, so worn that the cover was barely legible. She flipped through the pages and found that some of it was in German.

"Here…" Leah's hand appeared alongside hers. Bella's heart stuttered for a beat. She had forgotten how quiet wolves can be when they wanted to be.

Leah was right behind her, her warm breath tickling Bella's neck as her fingers flipped to a page in the book.

"I used to read this one over and over."

Bella glanced down at it. It was a poem titled "Endlich". _At Last._ She read the English translation on the opposite page.

_at last no one decided_

_and no one knocked_

_and no one jumped up_

_and no one opened_

_and there stood no one_

_and no one entered_

_and no one said: welcome_

_and no one answered: at last_

A lump formed in Bella's throat. "It's so sad…" She murmured.

"That's why I liked it so much." Leah's fingers drifted over Bella's before falling to her side. "When we're sad, all we want is to know that we're not alone."

Bella wanted to take her hand in hers and never let go. She turned to face her, intertwining their fingers. Leah's lips slipped up, but the soft smile didn't reach her eyes.

Bella couldn't stop her other hand from cupping her russet cheek and underneath the gentle touch, Leah's smile crumbled.

The wolf exhaled slowly, her shoulders hunching against an invisible weight, her eyes slipping closed.

Bella lips parted to call her name in question when, in a head-spinning move, Leah ducked and_ swooped _her up into her arms.

Bella squeaked and clung to her shoulders as Leah's strong forearms held her under the thighs. Her brain hadn't quite caught up to her racing heart as Leah smoothly turned and carried her to the bed against the opposite wall.

Bella had almost stopped breathing… But something in Leah's expression and posture made her to relax. The wolf carefully lowered her to the sheets, like she was trying not to startle her. And then, without a word, she slipped in beside Bella, her large form curling around Bella's smaller frame, her face solemn.

Bella turned onto her side, facing Leah and pressing close enough that they shared breaths. Her finger traced a line down Leah's sharp jaw.

"Do you know you have the saddest sad face ever?"

Leah snorted a laugh and wrapped an arm around Bella's waist. "Leave it to you to say the dorkiest shit ever."

Bella smiled, her fingers burying in Leah's beautiful hair. "You better get used to it. You're stuck with this dork."

"I guess I am, huh?"

For an equivocal amount of time, they just held each other; Breathing each other in as their heartbeats fell into identical paces and their limbs tangled together the way puppies did in a sleep pile.

Bella's eyes slipped closed. The hike from that morning had done a number on her healing body. She was already exhausted from the day.

Leah began that lupine purr, and it was the final nail in the coffin. Bella lulled into the edges of sleep…

_Riiing!_

Bella jumped, her hands flying to her pockets. Next to her, Leah groaned, groggy with slumber.

Bella blushed as she dug out her phone and squinted at the sudden brightness of the screen.

"Let it go to voicemail." Leah mumbled into her shoulder.

"It's my dad." Bella rested an apologetic hand on Leah's head and tapped the green button.

"Charlie?"

"Hey, Bells. Were you sleepin'?" He must've heard the grogginess in her voice.

"Yes." Leah grunted.

"No, just resting a bit." Bella answered him, stroking Leah's silken hair.

"Oh. Well I heard you slept over there last night. Just checkin' in."

"Yeah, I stayed at Emily's… You remember Emily, right? Sam's Emily?"

"Sure, I think I've met her once or twice…" He answered with his usual easy-going brusque. "If you haven't eaten yet, I'm havin' dinner with Billy."

Bella blinked and sat up. Leah grumped a complaint and tucked her face against Bella's side.

The shadows in the corners of the room had dimmed considerably. The single drape was fastened to the window with a couple nails to keep the rain out. There wasn't any more gray sunlight filtering through, just blackness on the other side.

_When did it get so late?_

"Or I can just pack yours to take home? We're just about done anyways…" Charlie asked in the wake of Bella's heavy pause.

"Uh… that'll be great. Meet you at Billy's in half an hour?"

"Sure. See you then."

Bella hung up. Leah rolled onto her back and rubbed a palm over her face, yawning widely. Bella smiled down at her. Her black hair was messy, resembling some of the styles of the 70's rock band members hung up on Leah's walls.

"C'mon sleepyhead." Bella urged.

Leah huffed and complained about her interrupted sleep the whole way down the stairs. Bella just laughed. It was kind of adorable how much Leah didn't want her to leave, even though the wolf would probably never admit it.

The rain had let up again, leaving just the chill from the sea in the air as they walked over sodden grass and muddy gravel. Jake and Billy's house was just a short distance from Leah's.

The sky above was dark, the heavy clouds blocking out the moon and stars. Leah held her hand, her eyes seeing perfectly in the pitch black as Bella stumbled along beside her.

Billy's quaint red house came into view, bathed in the glow of the lights from inside. Her father's cruiser was parked in the driveway.

Beside her, Leah stiffened.

Bella turned to her in question. A low growl worked up Leah's throat and Bella's heart raced into panic. _What was it? Vampires?_

"Hey, Bella."

Bella jumped and peered into the dark trees beside them. Slowly, she started to make out Jacob's hulking form, stepping out from the woods.

He didn't look so good. His hair was messier than usual, and he was shirtless, his shorts frayed and stained with forest dirt.

Leah's hand tightened around hers as she pulled Bella slightly behind her.

"What do you want?" Leah bit out.

Jacob sighed and took another step, ignoring her to look at Bella. "Can we talk?"

Leah looked just about ready to curse him out when Bella's soft touch on her arm held her back. Leah glanced back at her, a scowl heavy on her brow.

"We _do_ need to talk." Bella stepped out from behind Leah.

Leah frowned, her fists trembling at her sides.

Bella squeezed her arm. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Leah hissed without hesitation. Her gaze flashed to Jacob, who watched with an unreadable expression. "It's him I don't trust."

"Well trust me with this." She smiled, a peace offering. "You think after everything, I can't handle this?"

Leah's eyes endearingly flicked up in a half-hearted eye roll. She nodded once. When she looked at Jacob, her lips peeled back from her canines in warning.

With another glance at Bella, Leah turned and headed towards the house.

Jacob stared after his retreating pack-mate for a long moment, the lowered set of his brows starkly reminding her of Sam, before he looked away with a sigh. He jerked his head towards the trees and began to walk.

Bella pushed her hands into her pockets and followed him along the familiar trail to his small garage a few yards into the woods.

The air between them felt… strange. Bella couldn't remember a single time that things felt this _alien_ between her and Jacob.

"So." Jacob clicked on the single lightbulb and leaned back against a concrete wall. He still wore that expressionless mask.

She hated it. It reminded her of when she had first drove to see him right after his drastic transformation. He had a similar expression when he told her to leave and never come back. Yet that very night, he'd shown up in her bedroom.

"So…" Bella opted to lean against the Rabbit, avoiding Jacob's stare to glance around the familiar space. Nothing and _everything_ had changed over the course of a weekend.

"Are you gay now?"

Bella blinked, her gaze snapping to Jacob so fast it almost gave her whiplash. _"What?"_

"You smell like her." His nose wrinkled subtly, his eyes narrowing. "And she smells like you. I've been around enough couples to know that you've been kissing."

_Christ, maybe this_ was_ a bad idea…_

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

Jacob sniffed a single, humorless laugh. "Other than the fact that I'm supposed to be your best friend?"

Bella's blood began to boil. Did he really think just because he was her friend that he was entitled to every detail of her and Leah's relationship?

"Yeah. You were supposed to be. And then you threw a tantrum just because Leah imprinted on me. In fact, this whole time you've just been… pissed off." His face darkened and Bella crossed her arms over her chest. "That's not how a best friend acts, last time I checked."

Jacob inhaled slowly and pushed off the wall.

"Okay." He ground out. "So, I… overreacted."

"Understatement."

He went on as if she hadn't spoken. "Do you remember last spring? The bloodsuckers were gone, and it was just you an' me? We hung out so much… You can't tell me back then you didn't feel what I felt. At least a little bit."

Bella could sense disaster on the horizon. "Jake…"

"Just… humor me." His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides absently. "And right before that leech came back and took you away, we were in your kitchen…"

"Jacob." _Don't go there. _

"It would've been easy for us." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Just like everything we did before. Hanging out, fixing those stupid bikes… We talked about what could've been if there weren't monsters or werewolves. Remember?"

She remembered.

She also remembered her indecisiveness as she stood in her kitchen, Jacob leaning down to kiss her right before the phone had interrupted them.

And before that, Jacob hugging her and holding her hand every chance he could... when she had been too broken at that point to deny comfort of any kind.

Of course, it was nice. Comforting even; He'd pulled her up from the dredges of depression with that sunny smile she would always be grateful for. She'd never asked for much but he'd given it willingly to her anyways. Even still, his friendly solace, while wholesome... never did anything for her. Like a pair of old jeans that look and feel comfy but never quite fits properly.

She just didn't experience the same fireworks that he seemed to.

"And now the Cullen's are gone again…"

"He told me it was you." Bella spoke quietly, meeting his eyes.

"What? Who?"

"Edward." Bella shuddered and steeled herself. "Right before Leah got there. He told me he found out about the imprint because he heard your thoughts."

The color drained from Jacob's face. He stared at her, mouth parting. "I-I didn't mean…"

"I know you didn't mean to." Bella sighed, suddenly very, very tired. "Jake… Leah imprinted on me. I didn't understand why at first. I think now... I'm starting to. I'm sorry you're hurting. I really am. But this... this is just something you're going to have to accept."

Bella could see the muscle in his jaw tensing. What would it take for him to stop fighting her?

"Just because she imprinted… doesn't mean…" He started.

"What? That we can't be romantically involved?" Bella snapped.

"Quil and Claire…"

"She's a baby, Jake! I'm not." She seethed. "You told me once that an imprinted wolf would be whatever their imprintee wanted. That they'll be their perfect match. It would be impossible not to choose them."

"Bella…" He pleaded, taking a step towards her.

"I really want us to stay friends, Jacob." Bella closed her eyes. "But we can't if you can't accept what happened."

When she opened her eyes again, she jerked back. Jacob was right in front of her. She hadn't even heard him move.

He stared at her, his heart bleeding through his eyes and his arms quivering. It was a sudden reminder that no matter how grown up he looked, no matter how hard he tried not to be, he was still just a heart-broken sixteen-year-old kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The pain of seeing her friend hurting sliced Bella down to the bone.

But to lie to his heart, to both of theirs, would have been a fate worse than this.

"Please. Just give me a chance to… to..." His eyes flashed down to her lips and Bella went still.

"Let me go, Jacob." Her voice was as sharp as the edge of a knife.

For a moment, she thought he would give in to his lust.

And then his shoulders slumped, and he stepped aside, backing away from her.

Bella bee-lined for the exit as soon as she was able. She paused at the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Jake." She whispered.

He glanced up at her and she watched the mask slip back into place. He ripped his gaze away, jaw clenched.

Bella left without another word.

Leah was sitting on the porch steps as she approached. She was a dark silhouette outlined by the light spilling from the screen door.

Her face changed as Bella got closer. She swiftly rose to her feet and went to her imprint. Her hands automatically came up to gently cup her cheeks, her eyes flicking all over Bella's face before lifting to the trees beyond.

"I'm gonna kill him…" She growled.

Bella shook her head and touched her wolf's wrist, unable to speak around the lump in her throat. Tears pricked at her eyes. She didn't know if it was because she was angry, or because she was mourning the loss of her friendship.

The screen door _clacked _as Charlie and Billy came onto the porch. Charlie had a covered container for her.

Bella cleared her throat and stepped back. Leah was still glaring at the woods, ignoring the two men.

"Bells?"

"Hey, dad. Billy." She cringed at the way her watery voice betrayed her.

Bella grabbed Leah's arm, hoping the touch would distract her.

"You alright?" Charlie stepped down the porch, narrowed eyes flicking to Leah then back to her.

She didn't have the energy to lie. "I got into a fight with Jacob…"

"He'll come around, Bella. Give him time." Billy's regal voice was warm and comforting.

Charlie glanced back at his old friend, his mustache buckling as he pursed his lips. Bella knew his sharp mind was picking up that there was some context he hadn't been privy to.

"Yeah..." Bella mumbled.

"Want me to have a talk with him?" Charlie asked her.

Bella sighed at his protectiveness. "It's fine, dad. Besides, he's probably long gone by now."

"If you say so." He gruffed then turned his eyes to Leah. "How're you doin', Leah?"

"Fine." Leah mumbled, her eyes on Bella as she shifted her weight back and forth on restless feet.

Charlie nodded, swallowing a bit as he took in her lean bulk. Bella noticed that the two were around the same height. She could see it in his face that something in Leah told his human senses that she was... unearthly.

"You ready to go?" Bella asked, a little too forced.

Charlie didn't seem to notice the rigidness in her voice. "Sure, kid. Ought to make it back before the weather starts up again..." He turned to say his goodbyes to Billy.

Bella took the opportunity the grab Leah's hand.

"Don't fight him. He's taking it rough…" Bella whispered.

Leah snorted. "He needs to stop being a lil bitch and get the fuck over it."

Bella frowned as she listened to her dad start up his cruiser.

"He's been in love with me since last year." She thought back to her prom junior year, the one Jacob had crashed. "Maybe even longer. I gave him an… ultimatum of sorts. I just hope he's not willing to risk losing me altogether."

"He'd be a fucking idiot to risk that." Leah murmured.

Charlie honked his horn impatiently and she heard Billy laughed from somewhere inside the house.

Bella exhaled quickly. "Promise me you won't fight him?"

"B…"

"Promise?"

"You're no fun."

"Promise."

"Fine." Leah's lip twitched up, her hand came up to stroke over Bella's jaw. "I promise."

Bella smiled, turning to catch those heated fingertips in a quick kiss. It was as far as she was willing to go with Charlie watching them. Leah seemed know.

Their eyes locked together, saying everything unsaid to each other.

Leah's eyes burned with desire and Bella knew that if she had her way, she'd be sweeping Bella off her feet for a damn incredible kiss…

With a final inhale of pine, sage, and salt, Bella turned away and climbed into the passenger side of the police cruiser.

Bella leaned her head against the glass window, her eyes locked on Leah's lone form as they drove away.

"I didn't know you an' Sue's girl were friends." Charlie mused.

"Me neither." Bella's lips curved up. "We really bonded this weekend."

"Well… good." Charlie nodded. "You need more ah, female friends. Hangin' around these guys… They'll only break your heart."

Bella inhaled, then let it out slowly, trying to breathe around the guilt in her throat. _Other way around, dad._

As the black trees flashed passed them on the forest road, for the first time, Bella didn't feel scared. She watched them, wondering if she searched hard enough, she'd see her wolf weaving among them, keeping her safe.

She almost gave up when a long, noble howl began to climb into the undaunted night sky.

A shiver ran down Bella's spine as it continued to pitch, longer than any howl she'd ever heard before.

She wanted to run into it, let it grab her up and spin her around like Charlie used to do to her when she was little.

Because she knows that voice was calling just for her. Just like that heart now beats for her.

She knows it is singing her home.

* * *

_A/N: Hey lovelies, long time no see. How are we doing today? _

_Reviews welcome as always xo_


	11. Chapter 11 Shattered

Chapter Eleven

**Shattered**

Monday was another dreary, wet day in Forks.

Bella's fingers itched something fierce. She turned her busted-up phone over and over in her hands as she fought her impulse to text Leah.

She typed out a measly _'hey'_ and immediately backspaced with an exasperated sigh. She knew Leah had been running night shift and was probably just about to fall asleep for all she knew.

She did put her number in her phone…

Just in case.

With a groan of frustration, Bella set it on the table and walked her barely touched bowl of cereal to the sink.

Her brain felt as murky as the pre-dawn fog sifting through the trees outside.

The night before, she had tossed and turned, her dreams spiraling between snapshots of black eyes set in a demon's face, and the warm embrace of a silver wolf. Both images chased each other like a twisted, disorienting game of cat and mouse.

Even though she had made sure to go to bed early, she had woken up exhausted.

A shuffle of movement and a throat clear at the doorway pulled Bella from her thoughts.

"Mornin'." Charlie hummed; voice weathered like it always was when he was still waking up.

"Morning." Bella murmured in greeting as she watched soapy water slosh around her bowl and whirlpool down the drain.

Charlie already had his gun-belt on, and his police hat tucked under an arm. He pulled a to-go mug from the cupboard and poured himself a large cup of steaming black coffee.

Bella had expected him to leave before she did, as usual. There was an overabundance of work to be done nowadays with all the disappearances. Lately he'd been working with the other branches in Seattle and Port Angeles. So many eyes on alert… and Bella knew it would never be enough.

Out of the corner of her eye, Bella saw him shift his weight from one foot to the other.

"So, ah…" Charlie cleared his throat again, setting his mug on the counter. His fingers tapped nervously—a trait she inherited.

"Dad…?" Bella dried her hands on a dish towel.

"Listen, I'm not gonna be home till late. I have night patrol all this week an' with everything goin' on in Port Angeles…"

Bella's hands froze as she blinked at her father. "What?"

He was going to be patrolling, too? _At night?_

"I have a duty—"

"Can't you have one of your deputies do it?" She rushed out.

"They've been pullin' night shifts all month. About time I took my turn."

"It's too dangerous!" Her knuckles whitened where they gripped the edge of the counter. The pack did say they drove the Cullen's out, but their coverage only went as far as Forks…

And Victoria was still out there, dancing in and out the edges of their reach. Taunting them.

Charlie's brow pulled low over his eyes. "Now, I know you're worried Bells, but this is my job."

Bella's eyes dropped to the sink along with her heart. If anything happened to Charlie…

"It'll be fine, Bella. Order pizza on me tonight." Charlie sighed and put on his cap. "I'll just be a phone call away in case you need anything, alright?"

She nodded in defeat and turned to him just as he leaned in to give her an apologetic, one-armed hug.

His choking gasp had her eyes snapping up.

Charlie's face was sheet white, dark chocolate brown eyes wide as they locked on her throat.

To where her bruise was in plain view.

_Crap!_

Bella blushed furiously and shook long waves of chestnut hair forward to cover the handprint fading across her throat. It had started to turn an opaque yellow and could easily slip under the radar of an unassuming eye.

But Charlie was a cop, and his eyes were anything but unassuming.

Charlie's face darkened, going from pale white to fiery red in a nanosecond. He took half a step forward, his hand lifting just shy of her neck.

**"Who did that to you?!"** He thundered, his brow buckling under his anger.

"It's n-nothing." Bella impulsively brought a hand up, curling her fingers under her chin.

Charlie's hand jerked back and lowered. He sputtered, trying to find his words around angry huffs. Finally, he took a deep breath.

"Did Edward do that?" He ground out, his expression one hundred percent business. His fingers twitched towards the firearm on his belt.

Bella closed her eyes. Edward's marble face, twisted with boiling anger, flashed behind her eyelids.

Her silence was enough for Charlie.

"You're staying home."

Bella's eyes popped open at his no-nonsense tone. Charlie was already storming away from her.

"Dad, wait!"

He jerked to a halt, his fists clenching at his sides.

"He…" Bella swallowed her nausea down. "They're gone."

The words were a slap of recognition, an echo from the past, and she saw them stiffen Charlie's shoulders right before he spun to face her, a million emotions warring on his face.

The last time she said those words about the Cullen's, it was her birthday and Edward had left her broken in the woods.

"All of them? When?" He asked, his face stony and his hand held aloft as if he was waiting to catch her should she faint.

"Saturday." Bella sucked in a breath and leaned against the counter, suddenly lightheaded. God, was she about to faint? "They took him away. They all left Forks. I… I don't think they're coming back."

Charlie's gaze flicked all over her face, anger and concern burning a path in those eyes. He sighed heavily and shuffled forward.

"If I ever saw that Cullen again…" He grunted, pulling her into a warm hug. Bella closed her eyes, letting his familiar aftershave-and-coffee smell swaddle her.

"I know, dad." She whispered.

Charlie pressed a haste kiss to the top of her head and leaned back. His face hardened as his eyes roamed over the partially hidden bruise.

With another huff, he adjusted his police-issued cap and made his way to the door.

"You better believe there's going to be a warrant out for that boy…"

The front door slammed shut with sharp emphasis.

Bella exhaled the breath she didn't know she was holding. The silence of the kitchen was suffocating. She hoped he wouldn't go searching for them. Or worse, try to contact them. Charlie was the last person that needed to be in the sights of vampires.

She felt helpless. Everyone she loved was out there risking their life for _her._

Pushing off the counter, the scooped her phone up and haplessly began gathering her bag and school supplies.

She just had to get through the day. Then she could drive straight over to La Push.

To Leah.

.

Leah felt like a steamroller had made its home on top of her body.

The ache was how she imagined a normal person felt after a grueling workout. For the pack, it was a passing discomfort they'd all begun to endure lately. Sam had been pushing them extra hard these past few days, for obvious reasons.

Nobody really complained.

Not even her patrol partners, Jared and Quil. Which was surprising because Quil found a way to complain about anything and everything, sometimes just for the sake of a little humor. He had been unusually quiet, and Leah didn't blame him.

All three of them had their imprints on the forefront of their minds.

Bella never left her thoughts. Not when she ran herself ragged over the hills cresting Forks, not when she paced the cliffs that greeted the open sea… She remembered that fateful day the red-headed demon fled into its watery depths and away from the jaws of the pack. Again.

They were all on edge, but Leah felt like she was boiling alive. It was her imprint that was at the center of this fucking mess.

In the early hours of Monday morning, Jared and then Quil faded from pack mind as they neared the end of their shift. Leah thundered on, her paws tearing a well-rehearsed rhythm into the forest floor.

The silence in her head was short-lived.

_Go get some rest, Lee. You'll run yourself into the dirt if you keep going like this._

Sam's gentle baritone was threaded with subtle Alpha compulsion. He had just started out from the village, jogging the valley that held La Push as he rounded up next patrol shift's troops.

She didn't bother answering him.

Leah huffed, her exhale turning into wispy shapes in the morning chill. She tossed her head, her ears flicking back as her annoyance rippled down the fur on her spine.

She knew she could've squeezed out at least a couple more hours.

Sam channeled soothing sensations from his mind to hers; smells of the ocean and the mulchy sharp tang of pine and budding leaves. All underlaid with that annoying Alpha compulsion. She wondered if he even realized he was using it. The prick.

_Save it._ She growled as her path began drifting back towards the heart of the Res and her exhaustion began to catch up with her.

She knew exactly what he was doing.

Maybe it worked on newer wolves, who were so constantly at war with their instincts and wolf spirit that they needed the steady strength of their Alpha to ground them. But he knew better than to try that shit with her. It was almost patronizing.

Sam backed off and gave her space—or as good as one can when their minds were linked so closely.

Sheltered by the trees behind her house, Leah phased and dressed in a zombie-like daze. Her mother had an early shift at the Res' small clinic and was just starting to stir while Seth snored away in his room. He had school that morning; the only pack member that still attended school. Sue Clearwater would be damned if she let her son drop out like the rest of them had. He had just started high school; Still practically a baby.

She would've forced Leah to attend as well if it weren't for the fact that Leah was eighteen and could legally withdraw from school without any parental advisory. Not even the Council could intervene that shit.

Leah soundlessly made her way up the stairs. Her darkened room felt empty without Bella's presence. The poetry book still lay open on her desk, flipped to _Endlich_. Her bed was messy, a pile of blankets that had formed a nest perfectly molded to Bella's shape.

It had only been a weekend, but Bella had touched every bit of Leah's life and left a scorching mark.

Leah didn't mind one bit.

She climbed into her bed with slow, laborious movements and pulled close a pillow that smelled like Bella. It was like novocaine injected right into her bloodstream. She inhaled honeyed goodness that promised all of life's sweetness rolled into one.

Her mind rushed back to the day before, when the two had spilled into Leah's sheltering kitchen from the Sunday rainstorm.

And to the moment Bella's scent had ripened into the heady edge of readiness right there on her counter top.

It rushed up like a tornado had manifested in her house and smacked her in the face. And her wolf had taken the chance of a suddenly slack leash to barrel straight past the surface of her control.

Leah may be a female, exempt from the testosterone-filled posturing the others painted on so heavily, but she was still a wolf.

And here was her imprint—hell, her apparent_ other half_—smelling like supple desire burgeoning to full bloom as those gorgeous dark chocolate eyes drank in Leah's form.

Her wolf didn't just preen at the attention. It prowled. Craved...

It had happened in a nanosecond.

Across from her, still perched and dripping on the countertop, Bella was faltering around a request lost in the white noise of Leah's mind. Bella's voice was shaking around the edges so very slightly, but Leah's sharp ears picked up on it anyways. She realized with sobering reality that Bella was facing the same tornado... but with no fucking clue what to do with her own budding desire.

_Pull yourself together!_

It took her every ounce of control to jerk the wolf to a halt, thanking the fucking gods that her hands didn't started shaking on Bella's thighs under the pretense of working those goddamn shoes off.

Little did she know that minutes later, her control would once again be demolished to a crumb as she fell into silky heaven of Bella's full lips and soft thighs.

They always joked about how whipped the imprinted wolves all were, but _fuck_, man…

Now, nestled in the remnants of their little nest, Leah could think of nothing more relishing than being in Bella's arms.

That, and maybe a cold shower. A long, cold shower.

At the same time, an overwhelming side of her didn't want to move at all… or at least until all traces of Bella's scent had faded from her sheets.

She wondered what Bella was doing at that moment. If she was awake yet or not… if she slept as restlessly as Leah did, twisting and turning among her sheets.

Leah rolled over and buried her face in her pillow. God, it was pure, unfettered _torture_ to be here, sitting and staying while her imprint was miles away. The drive to protect Bella at all costs warred with the equally overpowering Order Sam had placed on her to go home and rest.

She hated Sam with a fiery passion, plain and simple. It wasn't the first time and she knew it wouldn't be the last.

Still, to no avail, Leah fought both storms. It was fruitless, and the effort overwhelming.

Letting the exhaustion overtake her, she fell into dreamless sleep.

.

_"My mom is a nurse… said Dr. Cullen transferred to some hospital across the country…"_

_"No warning or anything…"_

_"He made them all move…?"_

_"Do you think they broke up?"_

Jennifer Ford from two tables over made no attempts to lower her voice to match the mumbled whispers of her pack of friends. Over the quiet din of chatter, their conversation had the subtlety of a bull in a china shop.

It was the last class of the day. Freedom was so close that Bella could taste it. The class was _supposed_ to be working in pairs deciphering equations.

Bella, who usually paired with Alice, worked alone.

With the Cullen's gone, all the attention had naturally shifted to Bella. She was arguably used to being gawked at. A year ago, it had been because she was the newest thing to happen at a school where nothing new ever happened. From the moment she started school at Forks High, she had been a novelty to the rest of the student body. Didn't help that she was good-looking enough to spice up the small dating pool of eligible bachelorettes.

And then she'd gone from a new pretty face to Edward's girlfriend. That by itself had ascended her into the fame ranks of Fork's very own "royal" family.

Bella had kept her eyes forward as the whispers and stares followed her like a shadow in the halls. In such a small school, gossip spread like wildfire.

It reminded her of that first day. Except now the curious stares had an almost aggressive flavor.

Like they all secretly blamed her for the Cullen's leaving. Maybe Charlie was right, and she should've stayed home.

Their obvious sidelong glances at her were like pinpricks against the side of her head. Bella's fingers tightened infinitesimally around her pen as she hid behind her hair.

Bella risked a glance at the table of four girls who didn't even try to hide the fact that they were staring.

Three pairs of eyes quickly scurried away as heads bowed towards untouched assignments.

Only one pair proudly glared back without an ounce of shame.

Bella knew Jennifer Ford didn't like her. Ever since her very first day when the other girl had hit her in the forehead with a badminton "on accident", Bella had made sure to avoid her. It had been easy when the Cullen's had all but adopted her into their family.

Everyone made sure to avoid them, despite their stardom.

_If only you knew…_ Bella thought, trying and failing to focus back on the letters and numbers on her paper.

If she herself had known all of this would happen just because she had been dazzled enough to date Edward Cullen, she would have gladly marched up to Jennifer Ford and told her she could have him.

Jennifer hitched a brow in haughty challenge and Bella dropped her eyes to her paper, hoping her hair shuttered the furious blush on her cheeks.

What the hell was her problem?

From the corner of her eye, she saw Jennifer lean back towards her friends, her candied voice still carrying over the quiet drone of a handful of other conversations.

_"I bet he finally realized he could do better."_

Bella's set her pen down with a small clatter and pushed her seat back.

She ignored questioning looks and the heat rising up her cheeks as she approached the front of the room. Her words stumbled over each other as she asked for a bathroom pass. Thankfully, her teacher waved her away without a second glance.

Stepping into the silent, empty hallway was like stepping into an air-conditioned room on a hot humid day. With the heavy stares and whispers shut firmly behind the door, Bella felt like she could breathe again.

In the bathroom she splashed water on her face, letting the droplets drip back into the sink as she took a deep breath and raised her eyes to her reflection.

The exhaustion on her face was palpable. The sleepless night had engraved bags under her eyes.

This day needed to be over already.

Bella tugged her phone from her back pocket and swiped to her contacts menu. Her thumb hovered over Leah's name as her teeth worked at her bottom lip.

There was thirty-five minutes until the end of the school day… and it took another forty-five to drive over to the Res.

Bella shook her head and shoved her phone in her pocket. _You'll see her soon enough._

She lingered in the empty restroom, taking her time drying her hands and rearranging her hair to hide the fading bruise on her throat.

She could do this. She could tune them out for thirty more minutes. Bella drew in a breath, lifted her chin, and pushed open the door.

If she hadn't been paying attention, she would've walked straight into her.

Bella stopped short with a gasp and reeled back, her back colliding with the bathroom door as she stared at the figure in front of her.

Ivory skin and unnatural yellow eyes.

_It couldn't be…_

Curling blonde hair.

_Rosalie Cullen._

Bella's heart stuttered to a sprint in her chest as the vampire studied her with nothing short of contempt. She was so unnaturally still, that it sent icy chills racing down Bella's spine.

Bella blinked rapidly as images flared in her mind. Images of flashing trees and cold hands digging into her fragile skin.

"You… You're supposed to be…"

"What? _Gone?"_ Rosalie crossed her arms over her chest, a perfect blonde brow hitching over angelic features. "Oh, don't worry. We've finally left this dump far behind. Thanks to _you."_ She spit the last word out with disgust.

Bella's mouth popped open, her pulse pounding in her ears.

"Me?"

"Save it, mutt-lover." Rosalie rolled her eyes. "My brother may be brainwashed, but I'm not."

"What?" Bella's brain scrambled to make sense of her words. "Why are you here?"

Rosalie looked at her like she was the dumbest person on the planet. It put Jennifer Ford's sneer to shame.

"Because," The vampire said deliberately, as if she was speaking to a toddler. "My brother needs to see for himself that you've moved on so he can finally get the fuck over you."

Bella felt the blood drain from her face, her confusion fading as bone-chilling fear replaced it. Her shaking arms pulled up to wrap around herself.

"He's still after me." She breathed, her breaths hitching as her world silently imploded.

Rosalie watched her impassively out of the corner of her eye as she studied a perfectly manicured nail.

"Duh. Don't ask me why. All you've ever done is ruin our family. And now he's going to get himself killed looking for that redhead! He doesn't even care about how much this is hurting Carlisle and Esme." Unmistakable hatred leveled the glare she threw at Bella. "I hope those stupid mutts are worth it. I can smell them all over you. Disgusting… Not as smart as they think they are, huh? I managed to get here just fine."

With a flick of strawberry blonde curls, Rosalie turned up her nose and spun to make her leave. Her blood red stilettos clicked against the tiled floors and reverberated down a hallway that was as empty as Bella felt right about now.

She could feel tears bubbling under the surface, gathering into a lump in her throat. She wished Leah was here. Even more, she wished this would be the last time she ever saw Rosalie Cullen ever again.

But of course, Rosalie needed to have the last word in everything.

"You know…" The vampire's full, sculpted lips pulled into a cruel smile. "When Alice told me that you jumped off a cliff, I thought, _finally,_ things can go back to normal. But no, you had to fuck that up too."

And then she strutted away as Bella sank to her knees, her world caving in on her.

.

Leah awoke with a start.

It was sudden. One second, she was passed out in the grips of restless sleep, the next she was bolting upright, a burst of adrenaline flooding her veins as she lurched into action and crouched at the ready among her twisted nest of bedsheets.

Her breaths came in short, soft pants from between clenched teeth as her eyes darted around the small room. Her wolf was going fucking haywire under her skin, clawing and tearing at her insides and needing to sink its teeth into… _something._

_Threat…_ Her wolf growled.

Mid-afternoon sunlight streamed through her open window, bathing everything in gray light. Not a thing was out of place in her room. The house was empty, her mother and Seth both long gone.

She focused on her hearing, straining her senses to a good quarter-mile around her. There was the usual chatter of birds and small forest animals, the rumble of a car here and there, the far-off crash of waves… Nothing was amiss.

Her instincts told her otherwise. Something was very,_ very_ wrong.

What the hell?

It was a breezy, cold day outside but to Leah, the room felt like a million degrees. She couldn't catch her breath for the life of her. She clutched her chest as what felt like anxiety-riddled cord wrapped around her heart and _squeezed._

Leah sucked in a breath, her scattered thoughts skidding to a halt.

Bella. _Threat._

She exploded into motion.

Leah was across the room before her next heartbeat and scooping up the cellphone that had been gathering dust on her desk. Her fingers flashed through menus and clicked on a name.

Her body shuddered as it rang, an impatient growl seeping from her throat.

And then, right as she thought it would go to voicemail…

_"Leah…"_

Leah had to grip the desk to keep steady as Bella's broken voice punched a hole straight through her chest.

"Bella!" Leah gasped.

Bella's answering sob almost brought Leah's shaking form to her knees. She frantically sifted through the wolf's descending panic.

"Where are you?!" She rushed the words out.

"School… the bathroom…" Bella sniffled as Leah's mind worked over the small bit of information.

She was still at school… and Leah knew Forks High hadn't let out just yet.

A bloodsucker? It couldn't be… Bella was surrounded by humans and it was daytime. They wouldn't attack so openly like that… Would they?

"What happened?" Leah put it on speaker as she quickly gathered pieces of clothing into a nylon drawstring bag.

"Rosalie was here." Bella's voice was thick with tears.

"Friend of yours?" Leah's brow furrowed as she grabbed the phone and bounded down the stairs.

"...Rosalie _Cullen."_

Leah doubled over, a violent tremor bulldozing her to her hands and knees on the kitchen floor with the force of a Mack truck. The snarl that ripped from the bellows of her gut, up her throat, and through her straining jaw was all _wolf._

Her phone, as well as her bag, had slipped from her gasp; It skittered across the tile like a feeble pebble over petulant waters before colliding against the back door with a _crack._

For a moment she thought she'd broken the damned thing, severing her link to Bella, but then Bella's sniffle crackled through the tiny speaker.

"Hang tight, B." She growled, pushing up with rippling lupine ease.

She grabbed the phone and threw it into the bag in one liquid movement. Outside, the air was muggy with impending rain. She didn't pause her stride as she fixed the bag around her shoulders, making sure the strings were distended enough to encompass her wolf body.

"I'm on my way."

Leah dove into her wolf, her rage sizzling through pack mind like water on a hot skillet. She could feel Sam and the others recoil with just the shock of it, their instinctual drive to _protect_ fueling hers even more. Leah channeled it all into her stride, ripping a path straight for Forks.

As the distressed howls of her wolf-brothers rose and clawed at the gray sky, Leah's ear barely twitched to acknowledge them. She was hyper-focused on one thing and one thing only.

_I'm comin', Bells._

.

Bella's arms wrapped around her middle in a feeble attempt to hold herself together.

The harder she tried to subdue the overwhelming waves of anguish, the more she just _couldn't._ It was like trying to contain a forest fire with a spray bottle.

God, her chest _hurt._

A weak voice in the back of her mind told her that she needed to breathe… but even going through with the actions felt like she was facing Everest. There wasn't enough room in her lungs for air to move around. Tears flooded down her pink cheeks and she couldn't get them to the stop.

Bella squeezed her eyes shut, her body curling in on herself as if she was waiting for the bathroom stall around her to close in and suffocate her.

Her mind spun like a broken movie reel replaying over and over.

_Twisted metal… Dark flashing trees…_

Her hummingbird heart churned panic and fear into a deadly song; She couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing in her ears.

_Staring into the face of a demon with a crooked smile…_

She'd never felt so alone, so helpless, as she did that night. He could've done anything to her and there wasn't a thing she could've done to stop him.

Leah was on her way, a tiny voice whispered. It was a spark in a desolate night, setting off embers of hope that burned through her core.

Bella's fingers curled reflexively around her beat-up phone, squeezing it like lifeguard float in the middle of a stormy sea. The call had disconnected, and Bella's hands shook so much that redialing would have been impossible.

She wondered, numbly, if this is what members of the pack felt like right before they phased. Like they were crumbling apart, piece by excruciating piece.

_RIIIIING_

Bella flinched, her pulse jumping to her throat and her arms curling over her head impulsively. A cacophony of noise swelled like a wave outside the restroom door: Lockers echoing, sneakers squeaking on tile, dozens of voices and pubescent hoots of celebration that the day was over…

The last bell!

Bella scrambled to her feet and pressed a shaky palm against the door.

Classroom… Backpack… Truck…

She chanted the words over and over in her head like a shield against the anxiety threatening to overtake her. Again.

Bella waited for the noise and crowd to dwindle down. She squeezed her eyes shut, sucking in a breath as if she was about to jump off a diving board.

_Classroom… Backpack… Truck…_

With a burst of adrenaline, she pushed into the bright, emptying halls of Forks High.

She couldn't imagine how she must have looked like to the few, gathered groups of students making their way out into freedom or to after school activities: Paler than death, disheveled hair from being grasped too many times in fervor, tear-stricken red-rimmed eyes…

Their faces were a blur as she rushed down the hall. She could feel her heart thudding madly in her chest as she plucked her schoolbag from the empty classroom and blindly made her way to the parking lot.

Outside it was barely starting to drizzle. Hardly enough to send any of Fork's residents scurrying for cover just yet. Bella felt feverish… or maybe it was the humidity? She couldn't tell.

She could hardly think straight. How in the world she was supposed to drive home like this?

The adrenaline that had fueled her just enough to leave the bathroom had burned off, leaving only the whispered hope of cinnamon eyes against a tidal wave of crushing anxiety. The parking lot was crowded as usual, loud chatter intermixing with slamming car doors and revving engines.

"Bella!"

Bella jerked her head, her heart fluttering at the call of her name, and her eyes searching wildly…

The voice was familiar, but it wasn't the smoky dulcets of certain wolf.

"Bella?" It called again, and Bella found herself looking into the soft, doe-eyed gaze of her friend Angela Webber.

Angela stood by Ben's hand-me-down clunker parked at the curb; her arms wrapped around a school binder overflowing with pages.

Bella swallowed and slapped her palms over her rosy cheeks, trying and failing to shore up a resemblance of normality.

"Hey, Angela…" She croaked in a water-logged voice.

Angela's dainty dark brows met over her black rimmed glasses. She quickly deposited the binder into the passenger seat through the open window of the car, her worried eyes never leaving Bella.

"You okay?"

Bella's mouth popped open, an automatic _'Yeah, fine…'_ on the tip of her tongue, almost like reflex.

Or a shield.

It was Bella's first instinct. She wore her heart on her sleeve, she couldn't help it, but that didn't stop her from being an introvert at heart.

Angela would see right through any crap she spouted; that girl was too wicked smart. And just as fiercely kind and protective about her friends as Bella was.

The weighted tumults of emotion overwhelmed her, and Bella's expression crumbled, her lip trembling as her mouth snapped shut.

"Oh, hon…" Angela took several steps toward her, her hand lifted in a way not too far off how Charlie did that morning.

Was everyone just waiting for her to keel over?

Bella shook her head and closed her eyes for a heartbeat, trying to find the strength to pull herself together.

When she opened her eyes, Angela was still watching her with eyes bleeding concern, clearly wanting to offer her support with a hug but keeping her distance. There was something Bella couldn't place about her posture or expression.

Her mind struggled with this while Ben came into view, concern and curiosity mirroring his gaze as he leaned against the driver side door of his car and watched the two girls.

It was then that she noticed there were a lot more eyes on her than she thought.

Beyond Ben and Angela, other students were casting overt glances at her. Their whispers snatched to the wind as their heads turned in her direction then quickly away, before returning with the baleful glee high school students had towards any kind of drama.

A fresh wash of pink colored her face as Bella wrapped her arms around herself, clutching the strap of the schoolbag draped on one shoulder in a death-grip.

Bella ducked her head and barreled past Angela, a shuddering apology spilling from her lips. She turned toward the parking lot, to the corner where she parked her truck that morning, her eyes glued to the pavement.

"Bella, wait!" Angela's voice lifted Bella's gaze.

Very pointedly, Angela looked at her, and then just behind her at a distant view. The other girl looked… apprehensive. That was the puzzle piece that Bella couldn't place before.

Bella turned to the parking lot with a confused frown.

And just like that the floor dropped out from under Bella. Everything else just fell away.

Because leaning against her rusty old truck, was Leah.

Her black hair was wild as it spilled across her bronze forehead and a tenacious hand came up to brush it back with impatience.

Ripe, trim muscle rippled down that arm as Leah pushed away from the car with the grace of a panther: sleek and deathly unsettling to those who didn't know better.

The other students gave her a wide berth, not even daring to lift their gaze as they whispered to each other lest they be caught in the maelstrom of Leah's sharp stare. Still, Bella could tell that Leah towered above all the girls and even some of the boys. While they were wrapped in sweaters and jeans to accommodate the chilly April air, Leah wore a simple t-shirt that hugged her trim torso and a pair of old basketball shorts.

"Um… you know her?" Angela asked somewhere behind Bella, a million miles away.

Leah's eyes locked onto her's; There was fire burning in them sending a drop of anticipation down Bella's spine, whispering goosebumps across her arms.

"Yeah… yeah I do." Bella breathed. Her feet were moving before she even finished the sentence.

She ran in tune with her jackhammering heart and true to nature, tripped over the open pavement. Suddenly Leah was right there, like she had appeared out of thin air. Strong arms caught her and pulled her in to a lean, muscled torso.

"Leah…" Bella gasped into the cleft of Leah's neck and shoulder, her fingers grasping at the material of Leah's ages-old shirt and the solid, tawny skin underneath.

"I gotcha, B." Leah's husky voice rumbled in her ear as they gripped each other in a tight embrace.

Bella closed her eyes, inhaling that familiar woodsy scent that instantly smoothed out the rippling anxiety in her veins. A fresh wave of tears brimmed over and trickled down her cheeks with relief.

She felt Leah exhale.

Bella's eyes blinked open. She instantly noticed the tremors that rolled through Leah's shoulders and down her arms. It was as if the wolf lurked, snapping and growling, just under the surface.

Bella's head moved to tilt back in question, but at the same time, Leah tightened her arms. Bella felt her feet lift from the pavement and they were moving again as Leah loped in giant gaits towards Bella's truck.

Deft fingers plucked Bella's keys from her pocket without prompt and before Bella knew it, she was being pulled into the warm cabin of her truck.

"Are you okay?" Leah's palms framed her face as she gazed down Bella. Those wide, light brown eyes took painstaking inventory of every inch of skin.

Despite the dark circles under her eyes and the grim set of her expression, Leah was still so beautiful that Bella struggled to breathe this close to her. She'd almost forgotten the awe-struck rush she got just looking at Leah.

Almost.

"Lee…" Bella breathed, gripping the other girl's wrists. "Rosalie…"

"I can smell her." The words barely contained a growl. "Her scent is all over the damn place."

Leah lifted her head, nostrils flaring as she dragged furious eyes across the emptying parking lot and the woods beyond. "Did she touch you?"

Bella shook her head. "She said that E-Edward was still… was still…" The words got caught in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a lungful of Leah's grounding scent before trying again. "He still wants me… And he's still looking for Victoria. That means—"

"That bitch is still in Washington. And so is he." Leah hissed. Her face darkened with imminent thunder.

In an abrupt move too fast for Bella's eyes, Leah shoved the keys into the ignition and yanked the car to life. She moved in quick, practiced moves: Pulling a cellphone free from a bag Bella hadn't noticed was hanging from her back while maneuvering the truck out of its parking space and into the street.

On any other occasion, Bella might've made a playful quip at how Leah assumed the driver's seat. But now, all she could feel was bone-deep exhaustion. Pushed way past her breaking points, Bella gladly relinquished control.

She trusted Leah to handle this, Bella realized. Leah would always take care of her in whatever way she needed it.

"I got her." Leah spoke into the phone, raising her voice over the roar of the engine. They raced down the single-lane highway, pushing way past the speed limit. "It didn't touch her or anyone else. She's okay, just spooked."

There was a pause and Leah's face contorted with fury, her lips flashing up from her canines. Her knuckles turned white where it gripped the steering wheel.

**"How the _fuck_ did that thing get into Forks, Sam?"**

The voice in the speaker rose in volume and Bella swallowed thickly, tucking her head against Leah's shoulder.

Like a switch had been flipped, the menacing growl softened. Leah purred deep in her chest, a soothing velvet rumble that instantly put Bella at ease.

"Were you all fucking chasing your tails out there?" Pause. "You got that right… I could smell the fucker all over the parking lot and then it disappeared out on the road… I'm taking her to the Rez now."

Leah glanced down at Bella. They stopped at a light and Leah took the opportunity to brush a strand of Bella's dark hair behind her ear. Bella looked up at her, catching the moment Leah's expression changed from affectionate to annoyance in a blink at whatever it was Sam told her.

"What?" Leah snapped into the phone. "That's the stupidest…" The words tumbled into a growl. "Fucking _fine_. Whatever, Sam. If anything happens, it's on _you._"

Leah slapped the phone onto the dashboard and spun the wheel abruptly, ignoring the furious beeping of the car behind her. They turned onto a road Bella knew well; It led into her neighborhood.

"Change of plans." Leah huffed. "We're holing up at your place. That leech used a car to get in and out of Forks… That's why they didn't catch her scent right away. Sam wants us off the roads for now."

Bella shuddered. "You can't track them in cars?"

"It's a helluva lot harder to." Leah grumbled, "After the whole… bear fiasco, we try to avoid the roads during the day. But this…" She shook her head.

Bella's head jerked up in realization. "My dad! Leah, He said he's going to be patrolling all night."

"We know."

Bella blinked. "You do?"

The corner of Leah's lip twitched up in a saucy smile. "We've been keeping tabs on Charlie for months. Ever since this shitshow started with that black-haired leech."

Bella's hand wound around Leah's arm, squeezing gratefully as warmth swelled in her chest.

Keeping her eyes fastened to the road, Leah tipped her head and rubbed her jaw over Bella's temple. "We'll look after him, B." She murmured.

Bella nodded, rooting herself in the scent of pine and salt as lithe fingers traced small patterns over her knee.

She almost jumped out of her skin when a wolf's haunting howl rose above the trees around them. It sounded like it was coming from every direction at once.

"Easy…" Warm fingers skimmed her thigh. "That's Embry. He's just scouting ahead for us. Making sure the coast is clear."

Bella tried to settle her racing heart as her eyes immediately scanned the lush woods flashing by, as if she'd be able to catch snippets of a giant wolf weaving through the trees. She was surprised to find herself disappointed when all the trees revealed was more of the same green forestry.

A brush against her hand had her blink down to where Leah's fingertips whispered over her skin.

Bella flipped her hand over and Leah's heated palm engulfed hers. Their fingers laced together, a perfect fit for one another.

Her gaze slipped up to regard Leah, who studied the road ahead intensely. After a moment, the wolf's lip twitched.

"Checkin' me out, Swan?"

For the first time in twenty-four hours, Bella cracked a smile.

"You wish."

.


	12. Chapter 12 Rupture

Chapter Twelve

**Rupture**

Leah cut the engine and the cab was swallowed by silence.

Silence and Bella's quick, half-panicked breaths.

Her imprint's fragile heart sounded as if it was gearing to race right out of her chest.

Leah's hand squeezed minutely around Bella's as her eyes were immediately drawn down to where the other girl sat, eyes darting every which way out the windows.

"Is it safe?" Bella whispered, eyeing the front of her house before searching the trees on either side of where they had parked in the driveway.

Leah couldn't stop her own heart from wilting at those words if she tried. Those leeches had made Bella afraid of her own home, her place sanctuary. Inside, an anger so deep had rooted in the marrow of her bones. It swelled like a tsunami that kept growing and growing.

Bella's watery chocolate eyes flashed up to meet Leah's.

And just like that, her anger stuttered to a pause. She could still feel it, thrumming under the surface of her fingertips and stirring up her wolf, but it was suddenly shuttered away like a leftover meal into a fridge of resolve.

Now wasn't the time to be angry. Not when her imprint was falling apart.

"You'll always be safe with me." Leah murmured, her hazel gaze steady.

Bella swallowed and lowered her eyes to their joined hands, pale against russet. Leah could feel the other girl's anxiety like a living thing, stifling in the closed space of the truck.

"C'mon…" Leah urged and pushed the door open, and stepped into the damp afternoon.

Bella climbed out behind her, as unwilling as Leah was to break the tether of their hands.

Leah tilted her head back slightly, drawing up scent and sound to be filtered through supersonic senses: the quietness of Bella's empty house, the ticking of an old car down the street, an elderly female human shuffling around a kitchen in the house adjacent to Bella's… Embry's quiet, huffing breaths a quarter mile away.

As if on cue, his long, keening howl rose over the trees again. A beckoning call under Sam's orders, no doubt.

Leah smothered the disgruntled growl that began tumbling in her chest and led the way up to the front door. Bella's honeyed scent intensified with every step, and along with it, handful of other individuals. There was Charlie, his scent as intertwined with the house as Bella's was, and faintly, Jacob's.

Leah's lips jumped from her canines on reflex.

The moody jackass had been here too. Recently. As in _today_ recent.

_What the fuck did he want?_

There was a jingle and mechanical click as Bella unlocked the front door.

For the first time, Leah saw the insides of Bella's house. It was roughly the same size as Leah's and just as homey in the Swan's signature cozy style. Scattered against the beige front hallway was tiny framed pictures of Bella's childhood. She glimpsed Bella as a baby coddled by two adoring parents, birthdays, holidays, and pictures all through Bella's teen years. It was kinda adorable.

She was just pouring into her first step inside when her body jerked to a halt as if she'd been electrocuted.

Leah squeezed her eyes closed, nostrils flaring.

She shouldn't have been surprised to find the Cullen's infuriating stink lingering like a rotting corpse forgotten under the floorboards.

The rational part of her knew that the scent was a little more than a couple of days old. She _knew_ that there was no vampire waiting around the corner to jump them, that the Cullen's were gone to whatever corners of the Earth.

But the irrational part, the part that was all wolf...

The wolf was losing its fucking mind.

She needed to phase. She couldn't deny it anymore. Twice now those things threatened Bella. Her imprint, who'd never hurt a goddamned thing in her whole life. It wasn't just that a vampire was on their lands (which by itself was a death sentence) but the fact that they threatened a human. An imprint. _Pack. _

And right now, the pack demanded retribution.

A tug on Leah's hand drew her eyes downward. Bella had stepped across the threshold and their clasped hands were held aloft through the doorway like a bridge between two worlds.

"You comin'?" Bella asked, concern creeping into her voice.

_Easy… don't scare her even more._

"In a sec…" Leah forced her posture to relax. She eased in to lean against the doorway and pasted a wry smile on her lips. "I'm gonna do a lap and check in with the pack. Find out what the next move is."

Bella's fingers fidgeted against her hand, and Leah carefully tightened her grip around them, wishing she knew how the fuck to make everything better.

Bella glanced over her shoulder into the quiet house. Suddenly, Leah understood. In this moment, no amount of reassuring would convince Bella that there were no monsters under the bed.

"Hey…" Leah's voice softened as her other hand drew up to ghost over a silken pink jaw. "You'd think I'd knowingly let you walk into danger?"

Bella shook her head, her anxiety chipping away at the simple touch. It was crazy what touch did to them both.

"Though for your sake," Leah grinned in earnest, "I ought to carry you everywhere. You're a magnet for danger."

Leah purred as she watched the heat bloom in those cheeks and stubborn dent form between those perfect brows.

"I'll charge you." Bella snorted.

"Oh-ho, you're gonna charge _me_ for carrying you?" Leah let her thumb glide against delicious warmth once more before letting her hand drop. Everything in her was at instant uproar at the loss of contact.

"Mhm…" Bella hummed. Her eyes flicked between Leah's like she was trying to shore up resolve. She must have found it because, with a sly smile teetering on bashfulness, Bella took a half step forward right into Leah's personal space.

Leah's heart stuttered in her chest. They were a few heavenly inches apart now. Everything else on her mind—her exhaustion, her fury at Sam, her irritation at the whole fucking day—lapsed into the background.

Bella's smile grew roots, like she knew exactly how much power she held.

"I don't take money." Bella breathed over sensual lips that held Leah's every attention hostage.

Bella's eyes held hers for a beat longer before flashing down to the wolf's lips.

Leah tipped her head thoughtfully and straightened to her full height. She stepped forward even closer, meeting Bella head on. A little over two inches apart, they were toe-to-toe against the raised wood of the door's threshold. Beat up black-and-white Chucks against Leah's bare feet. Close enough that Bella had to tilt her head back to see Leah properly.

Leah's lips hitched in a devilish smile and Bella's eyes widened just a tad; Her blush deepened a shade.

_Oh, this wolf holds power too._

"Then it looks like I'll have to pay up..." Leah whispered, close enough that her breath washed over baby pink lips she knew for a fact would be a perfect fit.

Bella's lashes fluttered like a daydream and,_ fuck_, there it was… the supple scent of Bella's arousal that dispatched a flashfire of need straight through Leah's chest like a bullet.

_Mine…_ The wolf clawed, shredding Leah's insides to ribbons. It wanted one thing and one thing only, even if it meant dragging the rest of Leah's psyche flayed out behind it.

_Holy hell, she needed to get a grip!_

Reining in the beast with the might of the fucking Gods and feeling like she'd run a marathon in the space of a second, Leah managed to drag herself back a step. She slowly sucked in a lungful of breezy afternoon air soured by stale leech rot.

"…When I get back." She finished, watching as disappointment flashed across Bella's features. It felt like a backhanded elbow to Leah's throat. It physically hurt to deny those eyes a single thing.

She needed to go. _Now._ But her limbs wouldn't obey.

"What if I gave you a discount?" Bella whispered.

Leah's willpower began to crumble like a house of cards.

"Bella…" Leah rasped, somewhere in the valley between a growl and a whisper. "I need to go."

Bella's eyes washed over her face. Leah felt like she'd been stricken bare. She could do nothing but exist, defenseless as Bella stripped away her armor piece by piece.

"Then go." Bella murmured with a stubborn tilt of her chin. "And when you come back, I expect a payment in full."

For a moment Leah could do nothing but stare, dumbfounded, at the one person who held Leah's heart in her fist.

Bella's face bloomed pink under her gaze and Leah couldn't stop her smile if she tried. Very slowly, Leah leaned forward—noting the way Bella's heart lurched into a sprint at the action—and brushed her cheek against hers. Leah's eyes fluttered closed as she relished in the barest of touches, softer than rose petals. For a moment she drowned in heaven of her scent, letting it shore up and wash away the bitterness.

"Anything you want, princess." Leah exhaled, letting her breath brandish goosebumps across Bella's creamy skin. "I'll be back before you know it."

Bella shivered and leaned into the taller girl, basking in her warmth.

Leah knew beyond knowing that if she didn't leave now, she would never leave. Closing her eyes and cursing everything holy, she took one last centering inhale of delicious ambrosia and tugged herself back.

In a single, liquid motion, she pivoted out of the cradle of Bella's presence and was down the porch steps in one leap.

"Be careful." Bella's pleading words called out behind her.

Leah turned to get one last look at her imprint. Bella held onto the doorway with one hand, her other arm wrapped feebly across her middle as if she was trying to hold herself together. Her eyes beautiful eyes pierced Leah still.

"I will. Promise." She would turn the world to flame and ash just to be in those arms again.

It burned to walk away from her.

Jogging into the dense trees framing the house, Leah couldn't help but relish in the small victory she'd managed to salvage.

She'd somehow manage to distract Bella from her own anxiety. That by itself made Leah feel like a million bucks.

Sure, it was at the expense of her sanity; But if she was being honest, her sanity had been shot to shit a long time ago. So long ago that Leah had learned to stop fighting the current, just let herself tumble head over heels into the abyss.

It wasn't that she was self-destructive (well, maybe a lil bit) more that she stopped caring. She stopped caring about school, her future, tradition… you name it. She faked it around Seth for his sake and was blatant about it around her mother.

Until Bella.

She'd done something nobody else had even bothered to do. Somehow, Bella had managed to piece Leah's sorry existence back together into something that mattered. She'd seen straight through the brazenness, the heated bitter veneer, and scared shell of the little girl Leah once was.

She reached straight through it all and tugged forward the protector. The wolf.

The warrior.

There wasn't a second in hell Leah was going to let her down.

Especially in the middle of a war.

At her top human speed, it only took seconds for Leah to round the top of the hill that overlooked the tiny neighborhood. From here she could see Bella's house, white and gray nestled among others in the trees. She could see the roads leading in and out, winding into the mass of forest like snakes.

If anything tried to get to Bella, Leah would see it coming from miles away.

She could still hear Bella, a shuffle of movement as her small imprint leaned against the closed front door and sucked in a breath. That mysterious cord between them had them both wound so tight.

A soft whine shimmied through the underbrush just to Leah's left.

"Yeah, yeah… tell him to hold his fuckin' horses would'ya?" Leah grumbled to the giant gray wolf, hidden in the kaleidoscope of leaves and branches.

Embry gave her a cursory _whuff_ and soundlessly melted back into the shrubbery, giving her privacy.

In the moments before she phased, Leah took all the things that fueled her heart in its beat: piercing hazelnut eyes that knew her soul backwards and forwards, a laugh that was decadence wrapped in summer, a smile that could bring Leah to her knees… Lips that made her blood sizzle…

Leah took it all and folded into a tiny ball, like how she used to do when she was a kid bored in class with a piece of paper. Until she couldn't fold it anymore. And then she tucked it behind a steel door that had developed out of necessity from being the only female in a pack full of males.

Her control wasn't perfect, and she'd have to concentrate to keep that door shut tight. Still, there was no room for doubts.

Because there wasn't a chance in hell she was letting those dimwits see the things her and Bella had shared.

With those sweet sun-drop thoughts locked away for safe keeping, Leah let herself tip over the edge. The tsunami was back, adrenaline spiked rage spewing shudders down her spine. It bathed her in an anger so dense it was like a roar in her ears.

She hadn't forgotten.

And neither had her wolf.

It jerked to the ends of her reigns and Leah let it go freely. With a snarl that rippled from the core of her being, Leah exploded into her wolf—

—And into the whirlpool of pack mind.

_Seth!_ Sam's growl echoed in her head. _How long?_

_Three minutes._ Seth responded eagerly, untouched by the anxious energy that had befallen all of them. He had just started out from the village, fresh out of his last class of the day.

Leah felt her stomach dip in apprehension. He shouldn't have to live in a world that forced him to become soldier before he grew up. Hearing her thoughts, Seth snorted, perturbed at being called a child.

Sam gave a satisfactory huff, his paws drumming a beat into the ridge of mountain overlooking Forks on the east.

_Good. Seal that border._ He Ordered in an edict that swallowed Seth's remaining annoyance into a pupil-dilating haze of duty.

Despite his heavy-handed rank pulling, Leah let out a sigh of relief. Sam had only sent Seth out to guard the Reservation. He wouldn't be in direct line of site.

The others had received similar objectives. Leah pieced it together from their collective minds in seconds. Embry patrolled Forks in a tight circle, the closest defense should anything get past the rest of the pack. Quil and Jared were running a line down the Bogachiel river south of Forks, skirting close to the highway that led out of town and down the entire seaboard. Together, they'd be able to comb through both the forest and the scents breezing off the road.

Sam sprinted straight towards Cullen territory.

As far as she knew, nobody had seen, smelled, or heard a hint of leech.

It was tipping them all past the territory of fear and rage… Into madness. Leah was already there.

_Nice of you to join us._ Sam told her.

_Asshole._ Leah let her anger spark like lightening, a growl foaming between her fangs with the need to tear into something. To make those monsters pay.

Embry jutted his chin mollifyingly and sprinted ahead—and out of her biting range—to do yet another lap around the small town.

_Here come the fireworks…_ Jared snorted as he paced Fork's far outer border.

_I was wondering when we'd get some heat in this salsa._ Quil's laughter buzzed in her head, once again demonstrating his inability to read a fucking room. Leah's lips peeled back and the chocolate brown wolf's tail sprang up excitedly as he ran._ Ooo scurry—_

**_Enough! _**

Sam's searing command crackled through the bonds. Leah's head bowed unwillingly under the weight.

Sam continued staunchly,_ Jacob and Paul are scouting the roads on foot. Human. We need eyes on the road right now and I can't risk the townspeople seeing us. _

_Good riddance._ Leah expelled a dismissive breath. She still had a bone to pick with Jacob... But now wasn't the time.

That thing was still out there. Leah paced in a tight circle, her tail swishing behind her. _What if it went towards the town? We wouldn't be able to attack in a place full of people__..._

_No. It knows we're here. So it knows all we'd have to do is wait it out until nighttime. That thing is on the run..._ Sam hummed, his mind already forging strategies. Leah fell quiet, automatically thinking over and filling in the tiny holes in his tactics. If that bloodsucker emerged in any corner of their land (Forks included) all their bases had to be covered.

For once, their minds worked in dedicated harmony. Their wolves wouldn't settle for less.

_Keep your nose to the ground, Quil._ Sam warned. _Jared head towards the campgrounds. Embry branch off and go north._ A landscape emerged from the Alpha's mind: The glistening surface of a small lake a short fifteen-minute drive north of Forks.

Embry caught the image with a _yip_. Defying his massive size, the wolf spun directions without a stutter in his brisk gait.

_Stay there, Leah. _Sam tact on.

Leah paced on snowy, agitated paws. A gravelly growl streamed from her muzzle as she could do nothing but watch the tempest of images in her head. _Dammit, Sam…_

Ignoring her, the midnight black wolf burst through the trees to meet the upscale mansion that rose up like a bluff over his head. They all recoiled at the stench. Leah's stomach rolled with anger and disgust. The Cullen's hideaway looked like a macabre empty shell of a house. The huge floor-to-ceiling windows revealed furniture covered by ghostly white sheets.

The cloying stink was rooted in the house itself, not the air. None of the bloodsuckers had been here recently.

Leah couldn't believe their laughable luck. The monster had slipped right through their fingers...

Right then, another consciousness exploded in their minds so violently they all quivered.

_Sam!_ Paul panted, _76 Gas Station. North-side._

Before they could recover, images bubbled to the surface of Paul's mind and came together to paint a scene:

_Two men in reflective vests leaning against a work truck parked in the arguably busy bay of 76, one of two Forks gas stations._

_"Whew, you saw the wheels on that blue baby?" One of the men rubbed a hand over his scruff and snapped a lighter up to a cigarette dangling from his lips._

_His buddy picked up his paper cup of coffee and chuckled into his sip with a furtive glance. "Fuck the car man, did you see the pair of tits behind the wheel?"_

_"Damn straight I did. Prolly got a rich boyfriend. Too bad lil' lady didn't want to talk." His lips spread in a sleazy smile filled with bad intentions._

_"Mhm… I always had a thing for blondes…"_

Like a broken film reel, the image jittered to a halt. At that point Paul's jackhammering human form had ducked back into the shadows in a sprint; He'd needed to get out of the heart of town to phase.

There was a beat of grasping silence as the pack digested the revelation; The leech was headed north.

Howls exploded into the darkening afternoon sky. Leah's skin buzzed but she didn't dare join in. They still had a bloodsucker to catch.

_EMBRY!_ Sam boomed.

_On it._ Embry crooned, sucking in lungfuls of moist air evaporating off the lake. He was saddled in the land between the lake and the road. He veered to the right, weaving around trees and drifting as close to the sparse highway as he dared.

Paul wasn't far behind, hot on Embry's trail with a snarl spewing spittle into the breeze.

_Careful. Jared stay put in case there's any more of those things._ Sam warned as he launched off the Cullen's lawn and into the sheltering forest. He began to circle up to meet them.

They were all chomping at the bit. Leah swayed on her toes with the weight of the Order as she lost herself the thrill of the chase. She wished it was her that would be delivering the finishing blow.

Without preface, Jacob's thoughts melded into pack mind.

_We found the leech!_ Seth offered jovially, even though there was no need. Jacob had already plucked all the information he needed from their thoughts.

He sprinted into position, somewhere between the other side of the highway and river. Their shaky plan solidified with all members back online.

_Good._ Jacob hissed. His anger, tar black and viscous, rivaled Leah's.

Leah couldn't spare him a thought; her focus was too crystal clear. Especially now…

Because through Embry's bobbing point of view, a dusky blue sports car was burning asphalt over a stretch of lonesome forest highway.

_THERE!_

Everyone began shouting at once in Leah's head.

_Embry cut ahead!_ Sam's voice spilled kerosene on the bonfire, fueling lupine determination. _Jacob. Paul. Flush 'er in._

In a burst of speed, Embry pushed off the ground even harder, his muscles straining. Leah's growl tumbled freely as she watched. In seconds, he gained on the sleek Audi going at least 100 mph.

He was a blur of gray between the trees. Closer… closer…

Until he was level with it.

Until he was _past_ it.

Embry didn't spare a glance at the dead eyes behind the tinted window.

_Now!_ Sam bellowed.

Heart caught in her throat; Leah watched with sickening vertigo as two separate point of views locked onto the sports car like a gun aligning its sights on a target. The next few seconds passed as if in slow motion.

With a roar like thunder, the massive russet wolf burst from the trees.

It was lined up perfectly. She saw it play out in Jacob's mind like he'd practiced it. His claws would sink into the flawless shiny blue paint, letting the momentum of his pounce throw the car into a calculated barrel roll. Straight into the angry jaws of his packmate pacing in the middle of the road ahead.

For Jacob, Embry was just a backup precaution.

He intended to finish this once and for all.

Had it not been for the fact that in a move just as quick, the driver of the car jerked the wheel and slammed the brakes in the same instant, executing a perfect donut across both lanes.

_Screeech!_

The car spun in wide circle, leaving black tire marks in the asphalt and just missing the wolf sailing overhead.

Shock silenced pack mind.

Jacob rolled across the black road, claws scrabbling for purchase, and congealed to his feet; Ears flattened as his furious snarl rattled the air.

The car faced him head on—turned all the way around from the direction it was initially going—some meters down the road. His blazing eyes burned holes into the dark windshield.

The car's foreign engine revved loudly, twice. A taunt.

Jacob's massive head lowered like a bull.

And he charged.

With a blast of heat, the car roared to life, accelerating 0 to 90 in under three seconds. Jacob dipped his head, eyes trained on his prey, his paws beating against the asphalt faster than his frantic heart.

It was a game of chicken, each player daring the other to swerve first.

At the last second, the car's wheels jerked to the right, and the car blurred around the giant wolf in another donut so tight that it threatened to tip its tiny steel body onto one side.

Another miss.

Instead of screams of frustration, Jacob's dark chuckle echoed through the bonds.

_All your's, P._

Paul's silver body dove from the trees like a ghost manifesting from the shadows. For once, he was silent, his mind focused in blind lupine rage on the blue car facing away from him. Jaws snapped open to reveal gleaming teeth.

The thunderous impact of muscle against metal sent a deluge of memories roaring to the forefront of Leah's mind. Throughout it all, her attention glued to what played out in her head.

With the squeal of mangled steel, Paul ripped off the roof off the car with ease.

Like a racehorse bursting from the gates, a white blur kicked out of the remains and flipped high over both wolf and wrecked vehicle with the nimble grace of a trapeze artist.

The vampire landed on the balls of its stiletto-clad feet, melting into a crouch.

**_"You. Wrecked. My. Car!"_** Rosalie hissed, baring perfect, deadly teeth at the gray wolf stalking towards her.

_Psycho bitch._ Paul spat, echoing what everyone else was already thinking.

In the hills above La Push, Seth shuffled uncertainly. _I thought they were gone for good._

_Sam made the terms clear._ Leah reminded him, lips peeled back with disgust. _They're monsters, Seth._

_Keep her busy..._ Jacob growled. He circled around the two opposing beings at a distance, ready to strike at a weak spot.

_Two minutes_, Sam clipped. He was close to them, nearing the small lake Embry passed earlier.

For a split second, Leah let herself feel a burst of victorious euphoria. Like that feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when she knew she was about to win a close race.

Suddenly, an alarmed howl peeled into the sky with urgency from the coast, turning Leah's veins to ice.

Every single wolf faltered over what played in their heads:

Seth crouched and snarling on the bluffs as the wind tossed at his sandy brown coat.

And in front of him, a vampire.

A vampire none of them had ever seen before; Tall, sun-bleached blonde, and the lanky musculature of a college-aged guy. Water-logged clothes dripped from his paper-white skin in little more than tatters.

He stared down Seth with emotionless, vivid red eyes.

In a wildly different perspective, Rosalie Cullen was fleeing into the trees, taking advantage of the wolves' collective fumble. With a snarl, Paul was on her trail like a laser, flanked by Jacob.

Leah couldn't have cared about them if she wanted to. Everything in her was fixated on her baby brother. His emotions bled through the bonds in a potent cocktail; His fear, his bolstered bravery, his eagerness to prove himself…

"Where's your pack, pup?" The demon's statuesque mask broke into a sinister smile.

Then he charged at the sandy wolf, his hands curling into claws as a gleeful hiss rattled the space of the small clearing.

Leah screamed as chaos exploded in her mind's eye.

Flashing white limbs.

Scrabbling claws.

_Pain._

_SETH!_ Leah howled, her body seizing. More howls redoubled hers, digging into the darkening skies like hands scurrying for purchase somewhere, anywhere, in the clouds.

A boy's scream echoed in her skull, louder than thoughts. Louder than Sam shouting orders and the other wolves' panicked frenzy. It brought Leah to her belly in the dirt, anguished whimpers working their way up her throat.

Sam's claws bore into the earth as he sprinted harder than Leah had ever felt him sprint before. She could sense his panic, his fear, deep under the surface. But he pushed it down with a single-mindedness that Leah knew she would have been surprised by if she hadn't felt so numb.

_You're okay…_ He soothed in a deep rumble, _We're coming, Seth._

_You're going to be okay._

_._

* * *

Whew! Guess who's back back back... ;p Drop me a review and tell me allll the feels? More to come soon!


	13. Chapter 13 Mercy

Chapter Thirteen

**Mercy**

Thunder cracked liked bricks colliding across the endarkened sky, heralding the lazy roll of rumbling clouds in from the west. The rain started as a drizzle, but as dusk fell hard, so did its droplets.

Swallowing around the tightness in her chest, Bella tugged a single plastic blind down and peered into the streetlight-spotted-darkness of her front yard and saw… Nothing. The rain spattered the glass like a machine gun and fell in sheets that turned everything visible into dark hazy outlines.

But she only recognized trees and shrubs and parked cars on the street. No wolves, no vampires.

No Leah.

Bella let the blind snap closed and stepped back as the sky rumbled angrily overhead. Her gaze caught automatically on the clock above the fireplace.

Three hours.

When Leah had left her on her porch three hours ago, Bella's wave of anxiety had come back hard, snarling with a foaming turbulence threatening to drag her down again. The memory of Leah's presence had been her anchor.

She hung on to the memory of a saucy smile and stunning eyes and tried to ignore her soul-deep worry. It was like reliving that morning in her kitchen, worried sick over Leah's well-being but too chicken to send her a text.

Except this was a million times worse.

_Leah will be okay_, she reminded herself like a mantra, _she always is._

With sitting still being the farthest thing from her mind, Bella poured her jitters into everything else: laundry, dishes (barely any), and cleaning. She swept and mopped the floors, rearranged the pillows on the couch, wiped down the tables…

Nonetheless, the darker the sky got, the more jitters crept in.

She was dusting and cleaning the vases of fake plants in the living room when a collective of haunting, strident howls pierced the night sky, scaring her out of her skin and jacking her heart into a sprint.

She fumbled with a vase, grasping it to her chest before it shattered all over the hardwood floor. The howls broke off and faded into the rumbling sky.

Dread settled in her lungs like a stone.

Something wasn't right. She could _feel_ it.

Bella set down the vase hastily and scrambled to her backpack forgotten on the couch. She dug through the contents for her beat up phone. And then stopped short.

Leah had left her phone and her bag in Bella's truck, still in the driveway.

"Dammit…" She exhaled, dropping onto the couch in defeat. Her mind raced for another resolve.

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, her thumb began tapping out a phone number she knew by heart. She brought the phone to her ear with numb anticipation.

_Please, Jacob…_

"The number you have dialed is not accepting calls at this time." The automated voice cheerfully informed her.

Bella's arm fell slack as tears pricked her eyes. She could feel her heart throb painfully in her chest. Throughout all their disagreements when he first phased that spring; The arguments, the bitter hand of fate threatening to tear them apart… And now the imprint.

Back then, he'd just stop picking up when she called. She remembered her dad's protective anger when Jacob had passed the message through Billy and then Charlie telling her not to bother calling.

But throughout it all… he had never, ever blocked her number.

She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. Hopelessness consumed her from the inside out.

Suddenly, her phone lit up in her hand eagerly and Bella jumped out of her skin for the millionth time that night. Her eyes jerked to the caller ID. Her heart deflated for an instant before her brows pulled together in slight confusion.

Answering the call with shaking fingers, she brought the phone to her ear.

"Dad?"

"Bella? Are you home?" The muffled static of rain against a glass surface hushed under his words. He must be in his cruiser.

"Yeah." Bella whispered, leaning against the back of the couch and trying not to let her panic seep into her voice. She sucked in a breath and dragged an arm across her eyes. "Since school let out."

"Good, good." Charlie took a deep breath and she finally registered that it was anxiety roughing his voice too. "You plan on going out today?"

"Not really…" Bella frowned. "Why? Are you alright? Did something happen?"

"I'm fine. You know, just ah… work." He hesitated. "There was an accident on the 101. Stay inside, it's really comin' down out here."

_But you're out there_, Bella wanted to say.

"Of course, Dad." She bit her lip, her stomach twisting over her next words. "Hey, um… Is it okay if I have a friend over?"

Charlie was silent for five whole seconds, enough time for Bella's anxiety to spike and color her cheeks pink.

"Bells—"

"It's just Leah. Leah Clearwater?" She blurted out, before he could say no.

"From the Res?" Charlie murmured, not bothering to hide his surprise. "Bella, I really don't think it's safe for her to drive…"

"Oh, she's already in town. She… got stranded because of the rain. And I just don't want her to be alone, you know?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat._ It was only a little white lie_, she told herself. How many times has Edward been in under his roof without his knowledge? He would have grabbed his shotgun without hesitation if he knew.

If only that could hurt a vampire.

"Hmm… guess that's fine. S'long as her mom's okay with it." There was a crackle of a radio in the background and Charlie sighed. "Hey, I gotta go. Are you and Leah gonna be alright?"

Bella hoped so.

"We'll be fine. Don't worry, Dad."

Charlie chuckled lightly. "It's my job, kiddo."

Bella smiled softly, despite everything. His words meant so much more than he knew.

She knew her mom loved her; Bella would never think for a second that she didn't. But in that life, every few months she had flitted through new residences and schools as her mother found new obsessions, boyfriends, you name it. Her social life suffered, but her mom was happy and, when she was young, Bella thought that was all that mattered. Her mother's happiness.

Bella had never, not once been her mother's priority.

Now she was Charlie's.

"Be careful." She whispered for the second time that afternoon. "I love you, Dad."

"Love you too, kid."

Bella clicked off the phone. Another crack of lightening jarred her racing thoughts and her eyes swiftly returned to the window as if she expected a white face to appear from behind the edges of the blinds.

Bella's fingers dug into the fabric of the couch. God couldn't do this. She had no idea if Leah was alright, if the Pack was alright. It was impossible to think up anything positive with adrenaline overflowing her veins and bitter worry lodged in her throat.

Bella pushed herself up on unsteady feet and shuffled into the kitchen. She headed straight to the backdoor in the laundry nook just off the kitchen. She checked both locks, making sure the bolts were firmly in place. It gave her the creeps putting her back to the kitchen window—any windows. Even with all the drapes pulled shut.

Trying and failing to ignore the hairs standing on the back of her neck, Bella tugged down the plastic blinds on door's small window.

Her backyard was even creepier than the front. The woods that faced her was an ominous barricade of black, its twisted, gnarled branches occasionally highlighted by lightening streaking across the angry skies.

She fought the urge to turn away from the pelting rain as her gaze darted across the darkness.

And two winking lights caught her eyes.

Fireflies?

They were nested in the trees at eye level. Two steady pinpricks of flame as the storm's chaos raged all around.

No… not fireflies.

Wolf.

Bella tensed as if she'd been electrocuted. She stared back at the unblinking eyes watching her, her breath refusing to leave her lungs.

Leah?

Her body moved on autopilot. Bella reached out blindly and grabbed a raincoat from the hook to her left and scrambled with her other hand to unbolt the door at the same time.

The rain, wind, and cold hit her like a wall as she pushed outside. _Crap, crap, crap._ She hurried to shove her arms into the jacket as her teeth chattered. All the while her gaze kept racing back to the twin flames burning in the dark. She hoped she hadn't scared them away…

Arms wrapped firmly around herself, Bella stepped towards the forest. The branches were like fingers ushering her into the trees, sheltering her from the rain as they swayed in the wind. She knew she should feel scared but…

Those incandescent eyes.

They beckoned to her, like a hand stretched out in the dark.

Bella came to a stop a few yards into the trees, her anticipation buzzing under her skin.

"Leah?" Her words were soft, swept to the wind.

Still, the beast must have heard her.

The eyes tilted, as if the wolf had canted it's head. The animal was so still… alert like a predator paused in the throat of a good hunt.

Warmth bloomed in Bella's chest and she didn't know if it was fear or excitement. Maybe a mixture of both.

"P-please…" Bella couldn't stand it. She didn't know what she was begging her for. She just needed to know that Leah was alright. It was eating her up inside, not knowing.

As if she had said the magic word, the animal chuffed, emitted a warm, silver cloud from a licorice nose. It's eyes barely bobbed as the wolf melted forward like liquid mercury.

Bella gasped as the hulking animal took shape.

The wolf was huge. The last time she'd seen a member of the pack this close in wolf form, it had been when Jacob facing off Paul all those months ago. She'd forgotten just how intimidating they were.

The wolf's giant head lowered at the soft noise, triangle ears flattening back as glittering eyes locked on her. They were at the same eye-level now.

A streak of lightening across the skies illuminated the wolf for a split second.

Bella blinked, her jaw dropping with awe.

The wolf was the color of a full moon on a clear night. Its thick pelt was shiny with moisture, framing a canine face and lean musculature that was as beautiful as it was fierce. The eyes were lined black like someone had taken kohl to them. There was a bit black in the mix of fur as well; on the tips of the ears and tail… along the back and sides where some of the color deepened to silver in rifts.

The wolf's every muscle was cocked at attention, ears swiveling forward to pick up Bella's shallow breaths.

It stared at her with keen eyes the exact same shade as Leah's hazel. Stared as if Bella was the only thing that mattered.

As if she was the center of its world.

_She's beautiful…_

It was the only thought Bella could strew together as her eyes darting over Leah's imposing wolf. Because it was so clearly Leah.

This was the same wolf that faced down a vampire for her only a few nights ago. And probably ran herself ragged keeping Bella safe at night.

Pulling her lip between her teeth, Bella lifted a shaking hand towards the beast.

The she-wolf blinked solemnly and shimmied forward half a step. Front paw held aloft; her eyes never left Bella as she stretched her huge head out until her muzzle was a few precious inches from Bella's palm.

Warmth unfurled over Bella's hand as a nose as big as Bella's palm quivered and then huffed against her skin. A soft rumble tumbled in that giant barrel chest.

The wolf was taller than she was—and infinitely stronger. And yet, Bella didn't feel scared at all. It was as if some innate part of her knew that the being in front of her wouldn't hurt a hair on her head… even on accident.

Leah would hurt herself a million times over before she'd ever hurt Bella.

Bella wasn't too naïve to assume that accidents didn't happen; Emily was proof of that. But Sam had been hurting too.

Bella's lips flirted with a bemused smile. "Hi, Lee…" She whispered.

With a soft whine, Leah's shimmering teak eyes slipped closed. Her giant head lowered and leaned into Bella's open palm with a gentleness that rivaled her size.

Bella sucked in a slow breath through her nose as everything—her frantic anxiety, the tension, the longing—just melted away.

Bella's fingers ghosted through the shorter fur on the wolf's brow. It felt like velvet gossamer, slightly damp and burning hot from that unnatural body temperature.

Her fingers sank into the surprisingly soft, shaggy fur along the wolf's broad neck and massive shoulder.

A whine leaked somewhere beside her head and Bella looked up to see the wolf's eye locked on her, reflecting the glow of the house's lights.

Bella hadn't realized how close she'd gotten. She could feel the heat radiating off Leah's body like a burning furnace.

It hit her like a truck. This was Leah. As much Leah as the spitfire girl who'd stolen her heart on First Beach.

"Oh, Leah…" Bella surged forward and pressed her face into coarse milky pelt. "I'm so glad you're okay…" She choked, her fingers curling into bunches of fur.

A soothing rumble bubbled up under her cheek like molasses. It was the sound Leah would sometimes make when she was completely content, only richer. It was a sedative injected into Bella's bones. She rubbed her face deeper into surprisingly soft warmth and sucked in Leah's soothing, woodsy scent.

She felt as the wolf's athletic body dip so very carefully, like a water droplet on a lily pad, and then that heat was folding in around her. The biting wind and stray droplets were shielded away as Leah curled herself around Bella's small form.

Bella's lips kicked up in a soft smile. She could fall asleep like this, with a wolf to keep her warm.

"Hey…" She whispered and reached to tug the corner of a velvet ear that was bigger than her palm. She didn't need to; Leah already gave her every attention.

"Wanna get out of this rain? Charlie says you can stay as long as you like…"

The wolf blinked at her again and Bella started to doubt if she even understood her in this form.

With a gruff sigh the wolf unfolded itself so smoothly that Bella barely jostled. She adjusted her raincoat's hood as a solid snout pressed against the middle of her back, urging her towards the house like a stray cub.

Bella smiled and picked her way around foliage. The rain had let up some, but not by much; It was still a torrential downfall.

She stopped at the tree line and bit her lip. "Are you okay to phase back? All your stuff is still in the…" Bella's words died as she turned to find… empty space.

The wolf had melted away without a sound.

"…Truck." Bella finished lamely.

Her eyes swept across dark trees and shrubs. There wasn't a silver pelt or flickering eye in sight.

Bella snorted and turned back to the house, pulling the raincoat tighter around herself, a smile playing at her lips.

The woods were still dark and eerie behind her, but for once, she wasn't scared.

.

Moments later, Bella was just setting the kettle on the stove's blue flame when a soft knock disrupted the hush of rain.

She smoothed back her damp locks as she made her way to the front door, her heart jumping into an excited sprint. Her mind was still caught like a riptide on the image of the magnificent white wolf.

Blinking away the memory that already felt like some sort of fever dream, she tugged the door open.

Leah's somber eyes looked up at her from under ridiculously long lashes. They fluttered frantically against the cascade of wind and rain spiraling in around her. Bella's heart jumped to her throat, her gaze tripping over wet slicked hair and taut muscle shuddering under melted caramel skin. She wore the same outfit from before, now more than a little ragged at the seams.

The corner of Leah's full lips quirked into a reflexive smirk that didn't match her stone-cold eyes. "'Sup, B…"

Bella blinked at her for a second or two as her mind reset. They were in the exact same position they'd been in hours earlier, when Leah left that afternoon. Except now the atmosphere had changed considerably.

Without thinking, she reached out, grabbed one of Leah's burning hot wrists and pulled the taller girl inside.

She caught a glimpse of Leah's widening eyes as she spun to face her, the door slamming shut behind her.

"I thought something happened to you!" Bella nearly yelled, startling them both.

She didn't know where the outburst came from. She felt like a shaken-up soda can; All the anxiety, fear, relief from the past three hours building up and spilling over.

Smirk now wiped clean from her face, Leah stared back at her, her perfect brows furrowed low over her intense gaze.

Bella could feel her cheeks warm with color; her breaths caught in her throat like she'd just run a marathon. Closing her eyes, she scrambled for some semblance of composure.

"You scared me." She whispered at last. "I heard the howls and I thought… I thought…"

"I'm sorry."

At the sound of Leah's velvet whisper, Bella's eyes blinked open. Leah released a shaking breath in tempo with her vibrating arms. Her head and shoulders bowed like they held the weight of the world—and was crumbling fast from it all.

"God, it's all so fucked up." Leah spat, her palms coming up to scrub over her face.

As close as she was, Bella watched a particularly desperate tremor roll down the other girl's spine. The wolf was caged for now, but it was obvious that it didn't want to stay that way.

Bella's anger constricted into worry. "Hey…"

Concerned, she reached out and brushed the pads of her fingers down a quivering forearm.

Leah hissed from behind the covering of her hands. Bella frowned, hating the defeat in the gesture and desperately missing those warm hazel eyes. She reached up to Leah's hands and tugged. There was a moment of resistance before Leah relinquished and revealed her grim expression.

_What had happened out there?_ Bella could only think as her thumbs caressed over the back of Leah's hands. For a moment, she marveled in the white-hot relief of feeling her again.

Every second they were apart, it felt like trying to breathe underwater.

She'd missed her. Not just her calming presence, but everything. Her quips, her sarcasm, her shit-eating grin… Just reaching out to her and feeling like all was right in the world.

Bella's hands lifted to Leah's face gently, slowly. Leah's eyes darted between hers, drinking her in like a starving person at a buffet. It hit her like a wave of deja-vu: a vision of the wolf in her backyard staring at her with the same intensity struck her like a chord.

Suddenly, Bella understood.

Had Leah been unable to phase back?

Had whatever happened sent her wolf so far over the edge, she couldn't find her way?

And it was Bella's presence—seeing her, feeling her, soaking up her tender comfort—that finally brought her back…

Leah exhaled slowly, and licked her lips, her terse gaze dropping away from Bella's. When her eyes returned, there was a little bit of her fire mixed in there too.

"So…" Leah murmured, her familiar husky voice doing all sorts of things to Bella, "Still want that kiss?"

Bella didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or punch her in the arm.

Like the first ray of dawn, a genuine smile graced Leah's lips at whatever she saw in Bella's face.

Bella couldn't help but smile too, even as tears threatened to spill over. She tried not to get stuck on how Leah still wanted to kiss her, the mess that she was. That they both were.

In the kitchen, the tea kettle began to squeal. Bella drew her hands away from the warmth of Leah's cheeks and linked their fingers together.

"You already know the answer." She murmured as she led Leah into the kitchen. She could feel her cheeks burn. "Don't you?"

She didn't dare turn, so she couldn't see Leah's expression. Bella only felt her silence as she flicked the flame on the stove off and opened the cupboard. She reached up on her tip-toes to grab two mugs from the shelf.

She froze as heat swelled up behind her and a taut brown arm appeared inches beside her head. Leah looped her fingers through the handles of two mugs and brought them down to the counter for her.

Bella licked her suddenly dry lips. Before she could say "thanks", she felt fingers in her curls.

They played with her loose waves for a moment... Then her hair was being gathered off her neck with careful hands and spilled over one shoulder.

Warmth billowed over her pulse. Spicy and sweet.

"Yeah. I do know the answer." Leah's black velvet voice chased the shivers that unfurled down her spine.

The feel of heated, full lips pressing against Bella's neck sent her breath whooshing from her lungs. The hands steadying at her waist were solid and scalding. Yet so very gentle. Careful. Like she was made of glass.

Bella struggled to blink the stars from her eyes as, from the corner of her gaze, she watched Leah lift her head.

"Can I use your shower?" Leah murmured; her voice strung on an exhale that buzzed through Bella's bones.

"Of course." Bella whispered automatically, her mind white with static.

And then that heat was pulling away.

Bella turned, the tips of Leah's fingertips skidding across her hips. They were so close; Bella's back pressed into the counter's edge and Leah's arms on either side had her caged in.

Bella's eyes flitted to Leah's lips before getting caught in her intense gaze. Those hazel's smoldered in the kitchen's pale yellow light; Bella could only imagine what they had seen... what she had been through. She recognized a yearning that mirrored her own. A boiling, dark need. But also, pain.

So much pain.

It instantly sobered Bella, chasing away the static.

"There's towels in the closet." Bella murmured. She lifted a hand, dragging reassuring fingers down Leah's bicep. The muscles jumped under her touch. "Go take a shower. And then we'll talk."

Leah swallowed and nodded. Almost mechanically, she turned and stalked back towards the entryway. She came to a stop at the doorway and tossed Bella a look over her shoulder.

Bella definitely recognized that expression. It was the same one she wore.

"I'm right here." She soothed to those desperate eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I know," Leah whispered solemnly. She stood for a moment, and Bella could almost see the invisible line between them pulled so taut she thought it might break.

With another inhale, she turned and disappeared around the corner with her silent gait.

* * *

_Always, always thankful for your reviews!_


	14. Chapter 14 Shelter

Chapter Fourteen

**Shelter**

**.**

_Then_

"You're gonna be okay, kid…" Sam murmured, huge palms framing a boy's face contorted in pain. Seth was white as a sheet, sweat beading his brow mixing with blood and rain.

Her brother's eyes flickered open for a split second, locking with his Alpha's before squeezing shut against agony.

His body was a mangled train wreck. Both femurs broken, dislocated joints… From his labored breathing, at least more than a few broken ribs. Who knew what else?

Pack mind was stunned into a long silence. Everyone's thoughts bubbled like an angry pot of water on a stove, but nobody had anything to say. There was nothing to say. Jacob and Paul had lost the Cullen leech in the forested outskirts of Seattle. They couldn't risk chasing her any further without exposing their existence to the human population.

And the stranger bloodsucker had disappeared before Sam and the pack had reached the cliffs, fled back into the sea like the demon it was. Quil was patrolling up and down the seaboard but the scent never resurfaced.

Sam's head jerked up, locking his gaze with Jared, still wolf in the bushes a few feet away. "Paul, Jacob, come home. Set patrol around Forks." He intoned, his timbre bass registering the weight of the Order. "Jared, I'm gonna need your hands…"

_NO!_ Leah screamed, anger and anguish exploding into a howl that tore through the sky. Her claws kicked up soil as she lurched into a sprint.

Jared flinched and Sam's jaw tightened subtlety as a delicate shudder rolled down his arms. "Leah, _stay!"_

The howl snipped into silence as if he'd cut it with a knife. Leah's limbs buckled automatically, and she dropped like she'd been punched.

Jagged exhales tore from her muzzle as she braced her paws into the leaves, pushing up against an invisible hand that held solid. Pain laced her limbs as her instincts fought to tug her down.

Jared whined uneasily. Everyone could feel the compulsion of an Alpha's direct order.

_Stay down,_ they seemed to whisper as their wolves bristled at her out of instinct. Those who didn't obey would be made to obey by the pack. It was just the way of things.

"Stay…" Sam repeated softly, his low voice almost obscured under the hush of rain. He dipped his head, his keen hearing logging Seth's frantic heartbeats as he brushed the boy's dark locks back from his slick forehead. "I need you to guard Bella."

In the corners of her mind, she could hear the rest of them speculating.

They thought she couldn't do this. They knew her mind was fried and that her wolf was eating up what was left.

Well they weren't wrong. She wanted to scream and howl and fight anything and anyone who'd dare come close to her right now. She had reached her breaking point, and somehow kept going.

The sky shook angrily with thunder as if punctuating her thoughts.

Sam took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He sat back on his heels, his powerful shoulders rolling at the apex of his broad stature. Wind and rain battered harmlessly at his skin.

He looked directly into Jared's eyes. Looked past him and into her soul.

_"Leah, go to Bella's and stay there until I say otherwise."_ He said slowly, each word coated with liquid steel.

Leah's paws shook as she pushed herself up, ears flat against her skull, tail tucked firmly between her hind legs. She wanted to yell that she hated him, wanted to smack that wooden expression off his face.

More than that, she wanted to be with her brother.

And just as much, she wanted her imprint…

Instead, her paws moved mechanically across the forest floor into a shaky trot. Away from La Push.

"Steady, Jared. We need to set the breaks before they heal. Sue's gonna be here any minute with the truck…"

His voice melted away as Jared phased out of pack mind, taking the vision of her brother and Sam with him.

Her chest buckled with the beginnings of a panic attack. Maybe they were right. Maybe she couldn't do this...

Up ahead, the glow of soft yellow light filtered through the Swan's kitchen window like a beacon in the dark. Her emotions battled against the cage of her mind like rabid animals. The rest of the pack awkwardly pretended to ignore her on the opposite sides of the flimsy office partition that was pack mind.

She knew they were all a mess like her. She was just the only one not bothering to hide it.

She stalked closer to salvation and she felt… guilty. Her baby brother was lying in the dirt, broken and hurt miles away and she wasn't there. She wasn't the one holding his hand or brushing his hair back and telling him how strong he his and that he was going to be just fine.

God, she had to hold it together… she needed to… she _couldn't…_

Suddenly, Bella's back door squeaked open. And Leah's heart finally imploded.

Because all she could think was _BellaBellaBella…_

_Now_

Leah braced her palms against the slick porcelain tiles and bowed her head under the spray. She was so filthy that at first the water ran dark down the drain.

She tilted her face up, the shower head just a few inches above her head, and let the soft hush of water slip down the hills and valleys of her tautly muscled back. She wished it would wash the memories down too.

Gritting her teeth, Leah twisted the knob as cold as it would go. For a brief moment, there was enough hot water to make it the exact temperature of her body, turning her invisible. And then it became frigid.

Leah groaned as ice cold tundra pelted her super-heated skin. _And it still wasn't enough._ Her body was on fire. Because as soon as she'd locked eyes on her imprint in the woods behind the house, it was like a switch had been flipped. She was a rag doll tugged under Bella's spell.

It was so much more than lust.

She'd _never_ felt like this before... Not even with Sam. It seemed like a sick joke to even put them in the same category. She'd never wanted anyone with such intensity that it could knock her off her feet. The wolf was tearing her apart at the seams to get to Bella.

Even now, she unconsciously paid meticulous attention to every breath Bella took, every light step across the linoleum downstairs, every heartbeat, every soft distressing sigh… Who was she kidding? She was very consciously doing so.

It was madness and at the same time, it wasn't enough.

Leah pushed the heels of her palms against her eyes and hissed a steely breath from the trenches of her soul.

Pushing her slick hair back, she shut the water off with a resentful jerk of the hand. There was only one towel, so she grabbed that and began to pat herself dry. Despite her turmoil, she did feel better now with the day's insanity washed away. She felt almost like a person again. Even if she did still feel mostly numb.

_Knock, knock._ "Leah?"

Leah's heart lurched to her throat. "Yeah?" She hurried to wrap the towel around her chest.

"I'm going to leave some clothes outside the door. I can throw yours in the wash in the meantime."

Leah's lips twitched up reflexively in response to that compassionate voice. In a single, ample step, Leah was at the door and tugging it open without thinking.

On the other side, Bella blinked up at her with melted dark chocolate eyes and a soft gasp of fleeting surprise.

Leah hadn't realized how tense she was but at the sight of her imprint, she began to relax. Despite them being in the same house, she had to physically _see_ Bella before the wolf could settle.

Bella wordlessly lifted the bundle of clothes and Leah took it without breaking their gaze. She watched, in awe, as rosy blush filled those creamy cheeks. She was distantly aware of Bella's eyes mapping out a trail over her face and along her jaw and inevitably lower, across Leah's bare collarbones and impressive shoulders still beaded with water.

Her sweetening scent hit Leah like a drug. Alluring and delectable, it took everything in her not to throw the door open and take Bella in her arms. Her hands shook minutely with the effort of holding back.

"Thanks." Leah murmured, captivated.

Bella released the most delectable sigh, her lashes fluttering delicately as her eyes swung up to meet Leah's abashedly. Like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"You're welcome." Clearing her throat awkwardly, Bella took a half step back, her eyes dropping as her blush grew impossibly redder. Her hand fell away from the bundle, breaking their bubble with a silent pop of reality.

"Um, I ordered pizza for us…" Bella offered, her eyes dancing every which way except directly at Leah. "Meet you downstairs in a few?"

Leah dipped her chin silently.

With a soft smile, Bella turned and made her way down the dark hall, Leah's eyes following with cagey attention. Only when her imprint disappeared around the corner did she quietly shut the door again.

Leah leaned against the door and let her head fall back with a soft _thump._

_Well, fuck._

.

By the time she'd dressed in borrowed sweatpants and t-shirt and started descending the stairs, the smell of vanilla and chocolate had begun filtering up the stairwell to greet her.

She could hear Bella humming in the kitchen, shuffling around different drawers. Her steps were bunny-soft across the kitchen.

Stepping into the comforting light, Leah crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame.

And she just watched.

The house was quiet, the sky rumbling distantly and rain hushing at the windows. But in this moment, Leah felt the most at ease than she's been the entire day.

Bella moved in the cozy kitchen like it was an extension of herself. Hair pulled up and out of the way, she reached over a plucked a spoon from a drawer and then snapped it closed with her hip. Various ingredients and a huge mixing bowl sat scattered on the counter tops. Two eggs, a half sack of flour, sugar…

Leah inhaled slowly and let Bella's intoxicating scent wash over her and smooth her tense muscles loose. Her mind was always split in two: her wolf running amok in the corners of her mind that was always thinking of pack and protecting, and the human side that struggled to contain it.

Now, both natures were content to curl up and just bask in the comfort of having her close by. Safe.

"Cookies?" Leah murmured, spotting the package of chocolate chips.

With a squeak, Bella spun to face her as her tiny heart doubled its beat.

Leah pushed away from the doorway, concern drawing her brows low over her eyes.

After a moment, Bella smiled, and it lit up the kitchen brighter than that ceiling bulb ever could.

She held out the spoon. "My sous chef finally arrives."

Snorting, Leah prowled across the kitchen as a smirk hitched up the corner of her lips. "Sous chef, huh?" She took the spoon as her eyes soaked in Bella's adorably determined expression.

"I mean, I'm executive chef, of course." Bella grinned and turned back to the counter with a sway of her ponytail.

"Of course."

"And besides, you have the most important job of all." Bella peeked up at her with a private smile.

"Yeah?" Leah's eyes flicked up halfheartedly, the smirk still playing at her lips. "What?"

"You get to mix!" Bella slid the mixing bowl over. It already held a hefty pile of white sugar.

Leah sniffed a laugh and plopped the spoon in. "I'm honored."

"I know. You're welcome." Bella hummed and continued her dance around the kitchen. She gathered various instruments: measuring cups, measuring spoons, sticks of butter…

For a split second, Leah had a vision of her doing this exact same thing… except it would be in a kitchen they both would call home. There would be no wars, no storms, no worrying. Just the two of them existing, the way it always should've been.

"Hey…" Bella whispered, breaking the reverie with the whisper of a mug sliding across the laminated counter. "You should drink this."

Leah blinked and curled her fingers around the hot mug. It smelt like the stuff her mother drank in the morning. Green tea, ginger, various other spices. Her nose wrinkled as she lifted the mug and shot Bella a grimace over the rim.

"Oh, don't give me that look, Stubborn. You need it." Bella chuckled as she began measuring out brown sugar with practiced hands.

"That's not the only thing I need." Leah huffed, a trickle of stress leaking out under the words before she could stop it. She took a sip and mulled it over. Huh. It didn't taste as bad as it smelled.

Bella was so quiet, Leah glanced over and found her adding the brown sugar to the bowl, her expression sober.

_Shit._

Leah set the mug on the counter as reality threatened to crash down on the sublime scene. "So... chocolate chip, huh?"

"What happened?" Bella whispered as her worried eyes sought Leah. Leah inhaled slowly and dropped her gaze.

_Here we go._

"We lost the leech." Leah mumbled in voice that felt like it belonged to someone else. "Jake and Paul chased her all the way to Seattle."

In the corner of her eye, she saw Bella lift her hand to her mouth with concern.

"That's not all," Leah forced the words around the lump in her throat, "Seth got hurt."

The words dropped like a stone, cracking the quiet peace in half.

"What? How?" Bella gasped, her arm curling around her small frame in that way Leah knew that she was trying to comfort herself. "How bad was he hurt?"

Leah began stirring the contents of the bowl slowly, staring down at it with unseeing eyes. "There was another one. A bloodsucker we didn't know. He came from the sea and caught Seth off guard when he was by himself. There was… a _lot_ of damage..."

The wooden spoon creaked in her vice-like grip. Her fist shook so hard that spoon vibrated against the side of the bowl with a continual tapping noise.

Suddenly, Bella's hand was there. It covered hers with the warm brush of silky skin and gentle fingers. Silently, Bella prodded her hand open and eased the spoon away.

Leah hissed as her body siphoned up the relish of her touch. Just like that, the jitters smoothed into calm waters.

"I'm so sorry, Leah…" Bella whispered and Leah finally looked up to see Bella's eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Will he be okay?"

Unable to speak, Leah nodded.

Thankfully there wasn't much that their kind couldn't heal from. Still... none of them had ever been hurt this badly before.

"Hey…" Bella whispered, turning her gently. Her eyes drank in Leah's troubled face before she stepped forward, throwing her arms around Leah's waist.

Leah closed her eyes, her arms automatically winding around Bella's small, slender frame. _Finally._

Leah's jaw gently bumped the crown of Bella's head and she released a soft breath into her mahogany hair. As always, Leah was stunned by how delicate she was. So very tiny in her arms. Just like outside when it was her wolf wrapping around Bella, her protective instinct flared, coalescing into a comforting purr in the depths of her chest.

"Everything will be fine…" Bella whispered against her skin.

"It's not enough." Leah bit the words out. "They're gonna keep coming and I can't protect you. I can't protect Seth. Or my mom…"

"Stop it." With gentle hands, Bella cupped her jaw and petitioned for her eyes. "Look at me, honey."

Leah sighed and blinked her eyes open obediently. She had nothing to offer but her hopelessness. On the flip side, Bella's eyes offered her courage freely.

"You do protect me. You protect everyone. This is just a bump in the road, okay?" Bella stroked her thumbs across Leah's cheekbones, feather soft. "Look at me. I'm okay. I'm still here. And so is Seth, and the pack, your mom, my dad… All because of you."

Leah's swallow was audible as she nodded. They both regarded each other for a moment; Bella with her never-ending patience, Leah with nothing short of wonder.

"I can't lose you." Leah breathed.

As she said it, she realized how true that statement was. It simply wasn't an option. It never was.

"You won't." Bella said simply. Her thumbs still played at the sharp planes of Leah's face, tracing down either side of her jaw.

"But—"

"You won't." Bella set her jaw, her eyes sparkling. "I trust you. You're not going to let it happen. Right?"

_What in the hell did she do to deserve her?_

Leah nodded.

"No, you gotta say it." A precious furrow formed between Bella's brows. "Promise me."

Leah's lips curved in a watery smile as her eyes flickered over Bella's face. "I promise."

Bella smiled triumphantly with guileless delight, as if she hadn't just forged the broken pieces of Leah back together again for the umpteenth time.

She really had no idea. Leah would promise her the moon if she could.

"Good," Bella's fingers fluttered against the sharp planes of Leah's collarbones. Leah felt it in every single nerve ending. "Let's make some cookies."

She wiggled in her arms, and Leah had to physically tamp down the soft growl starting in her gut. No part of her wanted to let go.

All she wanted to do in this moment was push everything off the damn counter, press Bella against it, and—

"Leah?" Bella whispered gently, just a sigh in the back of her throat. Leah's hand slid up to cup her cheek, tenderly urging her face up.

"You really wanna make cookies right now?" She murmured, cocking a brow at her.

"Yes, I do." Bella pursed her lips together thoughtfully. "It helps if I keep myself busy."

Leah's head tilted to the side as Bella's blush bloomed across her cheeks. Her brown doe eyes flicked to the dark kitchen window with the smallest twinge of anxiety.

"I'm not a fan of storms…"

All at once, Leah understood.

She leaned in and traced the tip of her nose along the soft edge of Bella's jaw, a soothing gesture that melted that anxiety away easily. Leah's arm softened its grip around her, cradling instead of grasping.

Bella's eyes melted into hers and fluttered closed, her body giving into Leah's grip.

With a hum of pure delight, Leah lowered her lips to Bella's in the most delectable kiss. It was lazy and luscious and sweeter than any cookie ever could be. It stirred a fire in the belly as Bella's petal-soft lips parted for her. Leah didn't try to hold herself back like the other times they kissed. Their tongues met, building the heated embers of both of their need.

Leah's arms tightened around her, fingers digging into supple skin as Bella's touch traveled over Leah's skidding pulse and into her dark, silky locks.

She tasted too fucking good to stop. And Leah would've happily drowned in her sweetness if Bella hadn't resurfaced for a desperate breath first.

Leah chased, her lips finding the corner of Bella's lips and travelling along her honeyed jaw. Everything else was background noise.

"Leah…"

"Mmm…" She was too busy with the spot over Bella's thudding pulse. Bella shivered, a peal of giggles bursting free as Leah's lips tickled her skin. It was like cocaine straight to Leah's veins. Purring her pleasure, Leah began to nip and stimulate the sensitive spot with her teeth.

With a gasp, Bella's hand came in to grasp Leah's jaw. "Wait..."

Leah lips paused against her skin. She inhaled a lungful of ambrosia and took her time leaning back enough to meet Bella's starry eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Okay." Leah murmured as she offered one of her wry smiles. "What's next, sous chef?"

Leah released her reluctantly and picked up the spoon, internally pushing down the beast of her need with an obstinate hand. _Focus!_

"That's executive chef to you!" Bella huffed, breathless as she bumped her hip into Leah's. "Mix that. Next is the butter…"

They shared a smile and then Bella was moving away, back to the task at hand. Leah's gaze clung to her like a puppy on her heels.

"Yes, ma'am."

.

It didn't feel as weird as she thought it would, having Leah in her house for the first time.

When Edward had been here, Bella had felt vulnerable. Embarrassed even. What would he think of the memories on the walls or the random knick-knacks littering her room when he came from a world that didn't care for such pointless human things?

She didn't feel any of that with Leah. Everything was so different with her... But not foreign.

In the background, Fleetwood Mac dutifully drowned out most of the storm. The worst of it seemed to have passed, although the rain still raged at the windowpanes.

Time seemed to pause for them, Bella moving comfortably through the motions of measuring out and adding different ingredients as Leah compliantly stirred.

They barely spoke and when they did it was usually Bella, adding a mild quip here and there to lighten the mood. Leah was quiet… quieter than usual. Her eyes sometimes lapsed into a fog that Bella wished she could decipher.

Every now and then she would peer up to catch Leah's gaze drinking her in as if she couldn't get enough. It never failed to usher a cotton candy smile to Bella's lips and stutter in her chest.

"You're not watching what you're doing…" Bella teased, her fingers finding Leah's smooth forearm. "C'mon, stir like you mean it."

Leah snorted, her reluctant eyes dropping to the mixing bowl with a content smile. "Or what?"

"I'll have to fire you." Bella sniffed, watching the mixture slowly come together into a pale batter; All it needed now was the chocolate chips.

Bella fingertips slid up over smooth toffee skin and rested in the corner of her elbow. This close, Bella could visibly see Leah's shoulders relax, her body automatically curving to accommodate Bella's soft shape beside her.

She glanced up to catch Leah's gaze darting away again. Both of their lips curling in a private smile.

"You got a little flour…" Bella squinted and reached up to drag her thumb over the white smudge on Leah's chin.

Leah took the chance to nip at Bella's fingers and she withdrew them quickly with gentle laughter.

"And you got a lil hickey…" Leah grinned down at her as the spoon came up and splotched cookie batter against her neck. "…Right, here!"

Bella jumped back with a gasp, "You didn't!" _A hickey? _

Leah snickered, her arm winding around Bella's waist and tugging her back against her side. Bella swatted playfully at her, heat rushing up to her face. _Charlie would have a cow if he saw!_

Leah ducked, Bella's swatting hands may as well have been flower petals, and Bella barely had the chance to brace herself before Leah's moist, velvet tongue was lapping over her pulse.

Instinct made her head tip to the side as her muscles went lax. Goosebumps spilled down her spine as Leah cleaned up the batter with the stroke of her tongue. Every nerve ending in her body flashed alight, her only anchor Leah's strong arm around her waist.

_Holy shit. _

"What? Never had hickey before, Swan?"

The words seemed as if they were coming from underwater. Bella's skin buzzed as she blinked back into her kitchen. Leah gazed down at her with a devilish smirk.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Bella said, breathless.

"So, I've been told." Leah laughed, her first real laugh since she stepped foot in her house.

Bella's left hand reached out to the bowl not-so-discreetly and she slapped a retaliating glob of cookie dough against Leah's cheek.

Bella felt more than heard a wolf's growl unfurl in Leah's chest as her eyes sparkled with challenge.

A drop of anticipation piqued Bella's stomach as she reached again to the bowl—

Only to be stopped by a brown fist around her wrist; Not hurting in the least, just restraining.

Bella grinned.

And then they were both moving—arms straining, hands clasping arms—as they each fought to get a dollop of dough on the other.

Bella laughed as Leah's muscled arm lifted her off her feet as if she weighed nothing.

"Nuh uh!" Leah tutted as she deposited her away from the counter. Her slender form moved between Bella and the bowl.

"I have to get the chocolate chips in!" Bella feigned sideways to the other side of the bowl. Leah was already there, moving faster than a person should. She grasped Bella's waist and turned her back against the edge of the counter, her arms clamped onto either side, caging her in.

Everything paused. Leah looked down at her with a grin half-caught on her face.

The air between them kept teetering from playful to heated and back again and it made Bella dizzy. She couldn't hear the rain or the soft guitar in the background, only Leah's yearning breaths as she took up Bella's entire view.

She smelled like laundry detergent, strawberry shampoo, and something else… something spicy Bella could only describe as wild.

It drove her crazy.

"At this rate, we'll never get these in the oven." Bella's voice was just above a whisper.

Leah let out a long breath. "Trust me, cookies are the last thing on my mind."

"Then what's the first thing on your mind?" Bella's fingers drifted out to touch her sides. Under the cotton, hard impenetrable muscle tightened and shuddered ever so slightly.

Leah hissed as if she'd burned her. "You know."

Bella's eyes jumped to her face. Leah's expression was intensely complicated. Her eyes flicked between Bella's like she was warring an internal battle. Oddly, it reminded her of Jacob of all things.

Leah's head jerked up, face drawing into something more focused, and Bella stiffened correspondingly.

"Pizza's here." Leah explained before Bella's heart could gain momentum.

A soothing lupine rumble wrapped around her as a heated pair of lips pressed against her hairline—at the exact moment her doorbell rang.

Bella had a hard time pulling away. Leah lifted her arm and Bella shuffled under it, her imploring gaze lingering on the taller girl.

Bella stepped out of the warm cocoon of the kitchen into the entry way. She pulled the door open and tucked her arms around herself as frigid wind rushed to greet her. It seemed to cut right through her hoodie.

A boy stood at her door, illuminated by the dim porch light. He was slightly taller than her and lanky under one of those cheap plastic ponchos. He balanced two pizza boxes in his grip.

"Delivery." His monotone was as disgruntled as he probably felt. His eyes fell on her and he smiled awkwardly. "Oh, hey Bella."

"Hi, um… Lee, right?" She recognized his face, but it took her a moment to remember his name. He had been the boy who'd fallen ill along with her in Bio II last year when they did that blood typing project. Lee Stephens... They didn't share any other classes after that, but he sometimes sat with Mike and the rest of the group at lunch.

He passed her a crumpled receipt wrapped around a pen for her to sign. Her dad had paid for the pizza like he'd promised.

She signed with an indecipherable scribble and handed it back.

"Thanks, here you go." He presented the pizzas with a goofy flourish and Bella took them.

"Wait, your tip!" She called out as he began to turn away.

"Don't worry about it." He smiled, tugging the flimsy hood up. "Your dad took care of it."

Bella sniffed a laugh because of course he would. "Stay dry, Lee."

"Sure, see you in school. 'Yanno, we all miss you."

Her brows came together, and he chortled.

"Well, mostly Mike. The girls are… well…" He shrugged helplessly.

Bella knew what he meant. Other than Mike and the guys, the only other occupants of her former lunch table were Lauren Mallory and her bitch crusade. Ever since she started sitting with just Angela and Ben, she could only imagine the things Lauren said in her absence.

Lee mistook her silence for aversion, and he laughed in that gawking way boys did. "Ouch, I'll let him down gently." He regarded her thoughtfully for a second before grinning. "Though, there's probably no need."

"What?" was the only thing she could muster. She was utterly confused.

He waggled his brows dubiously before bounded down the steps and out to the car idling at the curb.

Bella turned into the house and shut the door with her hip, her mind wondering over the conversation.

"You okay?"

"Jeez!" Bella jumped, the boxes fumbling in her grip.

Leah caught them with her lightening reflexes. She stood in the dark nook of the entryway, the light from the kitchen just catching the edges of her raven hair.

"You should really make some noise, you know." Bella rolled her eyes, cursing werewolves and their silent steps.

Leah smiled, not apologetic in the least. "Sorry…"

"Yeah, yeah…" Bella shook her head as her heart restarted. She led the way back to the kitchen. Leah trailed in behind her and set the boxes on the counter.

They decided to forgo plates and ended up on the kitchen floor of all places, paper towels and pizza slices in hand. She'd ordered a plain cheese and a meat-lovers for obvious reasons. She was glad she'd ordered two pies, Leah had demolished half of the meat-lovers by the time she'd finished two slices of her plain.

"Do you need another pizza to wash it down?" Bella teased at Leah, who sat with her back against the wood doors. Bella leaned sideways against them, one of her legs stretched out over Leah's lap.

"Nah… I think I'll just steal yours." Leah leaned toward her and Bella lifted her pizza up and out of the way, making a small noise of protest in the back of her throat.

"Hey, paws off!" She warned with a mock scowl. "You finish yours, too bad. Don't even look at my pizza."

Leah pouted and crumpled her paper towel. "Damn, it's like that, huh?"

"Yup, just like that." Bella stuck her tongue out. Leah shook her head, smirking as she tossed her paper towel ball at the trash across the room. It made it in, of course.

Leah grinned triumphantly as Bella laughed. "You cheated."

"How?"

"Werewolf powers. It's against the rules." Bella finished off the last of her slice and wiped her hands.

"You didn't object to my werewolf powers before." Leah hummed. Her strong grip wrapped around Bella's knees and tugged her closer. Bella inhaled quickly, blood warming her face at the sudden movement.

Leah rearranged Bella's legs so they both draped over her lap. Her hand rubbed slowly over Bella's calf, sending simmering heat sparking up her leg. The gesture sang of intimacy and possessiveness.

"So."

"So…" Bella echoed.

"You and Mike, huh?"

Bella groaned and shoved Leah's shoulder. "Me and Mike, nothing!" _That ship sank before it even reached water._

Leah laughed; Her hand came up to tangle in the end of Bella's hoodie drawstring. "It sure didn't sound like it."

"Jealous?" Bella goaded.

Leah's face instantly darkened, the wolf prowling in those eyes. "Nope." Leah popped the "p" as she wrapped the string around her index finger. "I know you're mine."

To anyone else, it might've sounded cocky, but Bella heard the relief in the words.

Leah's fingers slowly ghosted back and forth over her leg, soothing and—Bella realized with a flutter in her stomach—_turning her on_ with that calloused gentle heat.

"Up until I came to Forks, my love life hadn't been too exciting..." Bella murmured, trying to shift her focus before the tide of desire overwhelmed her.

"How in the _hell_ did you end up with _Cullen?"_ Leah breathed.

Bella drew her lip between her teeth, mulling it over in her head. "You really wanna know?" Her eyes darted up to gauge Leah's expression.

She watched her with open curiosity, not anger like Bella expected. Leah dipped her head.

Bella took a deep breath and started at the beginning.

She spoke in hushed pastel tones, revisiting moments and feelings that felt tattooed into her consciousness. Leah listened with rapt attention, her fingers gliding absently over Bella's legs. Bella drank in the comforting touch, leaning on her gentle strength when she got to the hard parts.

Like the parts about James… Or the time she got cornered in Port Angeles with that gang, or her disastrous birthday last year in the vampire's den.

At those times, Leah's hand would freeze, gripping Bella's shin like a lifeline and her wide eyes glued to Bella. For the most part, she never interrupted as Bella's story culminated with her trip to Italy and meeting the Volturi.

Her joints had started to cramp from sitting for so long, but Bella was too focused on Leah, still and quiet beside her. Too still. Too quiet.

Bella swallowed her anxiety and shuffled a bit. Leah seemed to remember herself, and they reluctantly got to their feet and started clearing the boxes in silence. For a moment, the only sounds were the dirty baking utensils being added to the sink and the soft rush of the tap. The music stopped a while ago, the Pandora app on her phone quieting itself in that way it sometimes did from lack of attention.

Bella peeked at Leah as she put the extra slices into one box and stored it in the fridge with the cookie dough. Leah seemed lost in thought, her expression soft and open as she stared down at the sink, her hands mechanically washing.

She must have questions… who wouldn't? But whatever they were, she kept them to herself. For now.

Blushing, Bella picked up their forgotten mugs and began shuffling toward her.

"There's something else I think you should know." Leah's soft, raspy voice threaded across the space to her.

Bella's head jerked up to find Leah watching her, brows drawn low over her cinnamon eyes.

"The leech… the one that attacked Seth…" She ground out, "Jacob recognized his scent. It was the same one that they found in your house. The stranger leech."

Bella leaned against the fridge heavily. _Oh, god._ Her head swam, her eyes closing. _Who was he…?_

Spicy sweetness enfolded her. Warm hands withdrew the mugs from her grip before they ended up shattered on the floor.

"Shhh…" Leah soothed in her ear. Bella sucked in a lungful of her scent and fisted the material of her t-shirt as Leah drew her in. Just that touch, it sedated her mind and loosened her muscles.

"The others didn't want you to know." Leah growled. "They thought it would only stress ya out more."

"I'm okay." She whispered into Leah's shoulder. Lying didn't come easily to her and this lie fell flat.

Leah tilted her head, lips twisting together doubtfully.

"I am." Bella repeated, Leah's embrace lending a strength that she reflected in her words. "I know I'm safe."

Leah hummed in agreement. Her face lowered into the crook of her neck; The feel of full, perfect lips pressing against the tender skin of her pulse threatened to undo Bella.

Between them, so many words went unsaid. Questions about enemies and demons, love and lines. About the feelings eating them both alive. Would they even make it out of this nightmare long enough to know the answers?

Bella's eyes fluttered open. Her cheek was pillowed on Leah's shoulder as the wolf gently swayed her in the comforting quiet. Their heartbeats cantered in perfect sync.

It was impossible to feel hopeless when she felt so… content.

Her unfocused gaze landed on the glow of the digital clock above the stove. 11:43 pm. _Where did the time go?_

Bella tugged her head back, relishing the feel of Leah's solid strength against her cheek. Leah's eyes were trained on her over the plains of her sharp cheekbones. Her scorching palm slipped up to cradle the back of her head. _Always so gentle._

"C'mon," Bella whispered, without any hesitation at all. "Let's go to bed."

.

* * *

_Hey all, been a while huh? I could type a whole novel about where I've been (so many life changes! a lil rough at first but it's all smooth sailin' now) so I'll settle for saying that I missed you dearly._

_Please consider sending me a review! I really appreciate each and every one!_


	15. Chapter 15 Arising

Chapter Fifteen

**Arising**

Bella let the door latch gently behind her and leaned against the cool wood as her drowsiness snuck up on her. It wasn't until now that she realized how truly tired she was.

Her room was dim but not dark, and now, it's Bella's turn to watch.

Leah stood near the foot of her bed, facing away from her. Her head was bowed as she studied something in her hands. The soft yellow lamplight caressed the sharp cut of her body's agile profile juxtaposed with female softness. The long-sleeved shirt that was normally too big on Bella had fit Leah just right. With the sleeves pushed up to her elbows, it hugged the muscular curves and angles of her shoulders and biceps.

Bella placed a steadying hand on the doorframe as the butterflies fluttered up from her chest to her throat, suddenly aware that parts of her were very much wide awake.

Feeling heat slip over her cheeks, Bella moved into the room. As she started towards her bed, she caught a glimpse of what was in Leah's hands and her steps stuttered.

"Yanno, you could've just asked Billy about all this stuff." Leah said dryly, "These writers never get it right."

Leah's hand moved in the duskiness. Her fingers ran over the book's fabric cover. _The Quileute Nation and its Legends_. Bella bought it ages ago on that trip to Port Angeles with Angela and Jessica. It's kind of funny how life played out. If she hadn't of gone off on her own to buy it, she wouldn't have gotten cornered and then saved by Edward. It was like she opened Pandora's Box that night.

Maybe it was inevitable.

Bella pulled herself onto her bed and tucked her feet under her. "Would he have told me the truth?"

Leah snorted and set the book back down on Bella's desk. "Yeah, probably in riddles."

The corners of Bella's lips slipped up. "Definitely."

Leah leaned against her dresser and traced over the spines of the few books on the desk. Just a fraction compared to Leah's collection. "Besides you already knew the legends."

That much was true. She'd heard them from all the times her father took her to Billy's as a kid. And then the refresher Jacob gave her on First Beach when she moved back. Everything was so different now that she knew they were real.

It must've been a million times worse for Leah. She had no preamble to guide her transition into this world.

She glanced up out of her thoughts to find Leah watching her, their eyes caught each other's easily.

"Screw legends." Leah huffed and Bella's brow arched. Leah let out a low laugh at her expression. "We can make our own stories, right?"

"Sure." Bella shook her head, smiled softly through the layers of melancholy. "Better not say that in front of Billy."

"Yeah, I stopped caring about what old people thought of me like, forever ago." Leah's nose wrinkled adorably as she pushed off from the dresser. "And you shouldn't either. Save yourself the wrinkles."

"I'm starting to think maybe you're a bad influence on me." Bella teased halfheartedly, her heart fluttering because part of what she found so breathtaking about Leah was her wholehearted ability to not care about what the world thought of her.

"Now you're starting to sound like my mother." Leah winked and stretched her arms to the ceiling. Muscles rolled in concert down her long limbs and torso, her shirt riding up just enough for Bella to catch the dance of hardened abs under smooth, toffee skin.

A hot flash of desire crackled to life in Bella's stomach, and she dropped her eyes to the sheets, her hands moved under the guise of fluffing the thick comforter. The mattress bounced heavily as Leah flopped face down beside her. She was almost as tall as the bed was long, her feet hanging off the edge.

Bella couldn't help her soft smile as she watched the tension melt away from Leah's shoulders like it was never there. Somehow it made her next sentence easy.

"I think I should meet with the council."

Leah's hazels swung up to Bella's face. "Are you sure?" There wasn't any judgement in her voice, just soft trepidation.

Bella nodded. "I think… I think I have to." After all it was the least she could do. The pack was taking the brunt of this fight and they were pretty much swinging blind.

A soft growl loosened from Leah's throat. "You don't have to do anything—"

"I know…" Bella soothed, her hand automatically found Leah's elbow, "I meant; I think I need to. There's just so much that they don't know…"

Leah contemplated silently, her teeth working at her full bottom lip.

"Are you talking about the creepy Italian Vampire Mob stuff?" She murmured after a moment.

Bella's lips tiptoed around a smile that fell into a grimace. She couldn't help but feel like hands were wringing her stomach dry. Although she told Leah the gist of it, she hadn't told her _everything_.

Not that the only reason the Volturi let her walk out of Italy alive was because they're biding their time until Bella gets turned.

It was a pill of discomfort growing too large to swallow; like life was playing some sick twisted joke on her as outside forces decide her fate without any of her input. From Edward's initial interest in her, to ripping himself out of her life, Jacob's insistence in being with her… Everyone else decided how Bella's life would go except for Bella.

She was so tired.

The feather touch on her thigh had Bella's eyes fluttering up to meet Leah's aching concern.

"Hey…" Leah murmured, watching Bella closely. "I'll let Sam and the others know tomorrow, okay? And when they meet, you won't be alone again." Her thumb stroked small circles on the blanket. She felt the heat of her touch as it bled through the fabric and let it burn away the stress that bittered the back of her tongue.

Bella nodded, tried to find the words to voice her frustrations and came up empty.

Leah shifted beside her and yanked down the comforter in one smooth move before she wriggled under the sheets.

Bella let her lips fall into an easy fondness as Leah pulled most of the blankets her way and rolled onto her back. She yawned hugely, and Bella couldn't help but think its far too exaggerated to be genuine.

"My, what big teeth you have." Bella sunk into the mattress with what little corner of her thick blanket she had left.

"All the better to bite you with, my dear." Leah stuck out her tongue.

Her tone was soft and joking but Bella's cheeks flushed scarlet all the same. She was thankful that the room wasn't too brightly lit.

Ignoring the dangerous thoughts that floated in her mind, she grabbed the edge of the comforter that covered Leah's shoulders and yanked playfully. "You don't even need that, you blanket hog."

With a sly glint in her hazel eyes, Leah flowed with the tug. Bella fell back, laughing as the blanket unraveled Leah on top of her. The impact of Leah's hard body colliding with her was hardly enough to knock the breath out of her and yet she ended up breathless all the same.

Absorbing the force with both palms braced on either side—Bella could feel every ember of heat but none of the pressure—Leah pulled back just enough to look down at her properly.

Bella felt the blush warm her cheeks, but she didn't feel embarrassed.

Leah's gaze was open and without judgement, her undivided attention sprinkled over Bella like early-morning dew.

It's another bullet point to add to the growing list of things Bella really liked about Leah: No matter how snarky her mouth got; Leah's eyes could never lie for her heart.

"What's goin' on up there, princess." Leah whispered, her words a husky croon that made Bella ache.

Bella dropped her eyes, her fingers curled into the material of Leah's borrowed shirt.

"Sorry... I just get into these moods. I mean, I've never been an uppity person; Unless I'm around you or the pack..." She paused and remembered how Jake tried to get her to let loose all those weeks ago before he phased. "It gets worse when I'm by myself. I start to overthink and then…" She shook her head, "Maybe I just need to sleep."

"Don't do that."

Bella frowned. "I have school in the morning."

"No, I mean…" Leah sighed and dropped down on one elbow. It brought her closer, and for a moment Bella couldn't think of anything except the way her raven hair tumbled around her face. How it smelled faintly of Bella's coconut shampoo. "You don't need to dismiss your feelings like that, as random mood swings. I want to know how you feel."

Bella shouldn't be surprised by the heat that gathered behind her eyes. Had anyone ever asked that of her before? Sure, people ask if you're okay as a courtesy, but she knew they wouldn't know what to do with the burden if she gave her feelings to them.

Leah looked at her like she'd carry that burden for the rest of her life if Bella let her.

"I want to know how you feel too." Bella answered, her voice wobbly.

Leah smiled down at her. Like everything about her, it's warm and steady and cozy.

A hesitant smile curved Bella's lips as her fingers played at Leah's sides. She knew she should tell her. Tell her that her days are numbered and that she didn't think the Volturi are the type to forget or hold grudges. But she couldn't exactly drop a bomb like that and expect things to go smoothly, especially after the day they've had.

"I'm scared." She whispered instead.

Leah stared down at her, her brow puckered as her lips pursed. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"Me too."

Bella's hands moved thoughtlessly, slowly, ghosting up Leah's sides and over her solid shoulders. She drowned her anxiety in Leah's firm, burning touch… in the sharpness of Leah's jaw, in the softness of her lips. Until she couldn't think of anything except how badly she wanted to kiss them.

Leah's eyes flickered open and then dropped to Bella's own lips as if she had read her thoughts.

Bella felt lissome fingers curl gently in her hair but all she could focus on was Leah's eyes melting into hers as she dropped her other elbow down beside Bella's head. It brought her even closer.

"You make it better though." Leah murmured, the words whispered over her skin.

Bella smiled, and this time it was steady on her lips.

All she had to do was tilt her head up just so...

Leah met her halfway, searing the vow with a kiss. Her lips were soft as they caressed, giving without expecting anything back just like the heart she felt beat against her own.

It was tender kiss, and yet the fires of Bella's desire still burned. It wasn't the flashfire from before. No, this was molten lava that slipped over her bones.

Bella's palms ghosted over Leah's jaw as they parted with the soft smack of moist lips. Her breaths were ragged, at odds with their heart's tandem beat. The intimacy was almost painful, like the friction between their souls.

Leah's cheek rubbed against hers, silk against satin, and that magical purr blossomed in the depths of her chest. They were so close, Bella felt it vibrate through her being as Leah's face settled in the crook of her neck.

_I want to know how you feel._

"Nobody's ever kissed me like you do." Bella whispered, her fingers slipped around the nape of Leah's neck.

Leah huffed, a puff of air against her sensitive skin that made her shiver. "Not even Pissyboy Cullen?"

Bella shook her head gently. "He was always so careful… before."

The words hung heavily in the air, and it's not lost on her that this was the first time she's spoken about him post-accident without feeling the wave of anxiety that usually came with him.

"So…" Leah ventured. "You guys never…"

Bella blinked and then blushed so ferociously, she felt it in the tips of her ears. "Oh! No… nope."

Leah laughed; tugged her face free to grin down at Bella. All embarrassment was razed by surprise and Bella frowned. "What?"

"Shoulda' seen the look on your face."

"Stop it." She slapped her arm playfully, but her lips had no choice but to curve up in response to that devastating smile. "Besides, this isn't news."

"I know, but it's funny to hear you say it." Leah squinted down at her. "Did you ever think about it?"

Now Bella must drop her gaze as the residual heat gained momentum in her face. Because,_ yes_, she had thought about having sex with Edward. She thought about a lot of things. And most of it lingered in the subject of whether she'd live to have those human experiences at all.

She could feel Leah's gaze on her, patient like always as Bella silently parsed through her thoughts. It helped that Leah was so… calm talking about it. She could hardly imagine talking to Jake about this stuff, he would've nope'd out of that conversation before it could start.

"Yeah." She didn't elaborate. Instead she waited for Leah's reproach and disgust.

It didn't come.

"Welp. I guess it goes without saying that you really dodged a bullet." Leah remarked. If she noticed the heavy silence, she didn't let on.

"I know." Bella gripped her tighter, just because she could. "Trust me, those feelings are long gone."

Leah was quiet as her head lowered to the space beside Bella's. The tip of her nose rubbed over Bella's temple, the barest of touches that somehow stoked the fires of Bella's yearning. Her abashment was melted by the feel of those strong arms.

Experienced arms?

Bella hid her face against Leah's shoulder with a groan.

"What?"

"I haven't even been kissed properly until I met you and you're already miles ahead of me…" She mumbled, almost incoherent against the fabric of her shirt.

Leah's soft chuckle strangely soothed her. "Yeah, well, we're both on the same boat."

Bella's head jerked up to pout at her. "I'm serious."

"So am I." Leah's lips stretch into a glorious smile, and Bella's heart jumped at the sight. "This is all new to me, too. I wasn't lying when I said I've never felt like this with anyone before. You make me feel like… like I'm a fuckin' nervous, giddy kid."

Bella could feel her heart picking up like a wind-up toy. "But you and Sam…"

"I'm kinda insulted on your behalf." Leah snorted. "You and Sam aren't even in the same universe. I mean, yeah, I loved him. But I never wanted forever with him. I guess we were both looking for vices in all the wrong places."

Bella exhaled with a wavering, breathless fragility. "What?"

Leah mulled her teeth over her lip, oblivious to the shockwaves. "Everyone knew it too. We were so toxic together…"

"No, no." Bella's mouth free falls into a smile. "You said… you didn't want forever with him…"

The implication of her own words seemed to hit Leah at last and her face broke into a gazillion kilowatt grin, like the first rays of sun after a storm.

"Just with you."

There was a time when a word like forever would have shaken her to the core with frigid uncertainty. When forever meant saying goodbye to everything she knew for a world of bloodlust.

Now, it felt like a weight lifting from her shoulders because maybe she can still have her happily-ever-after-take-two.

"I want that with you too." Bella licked her lips, wetness built in the corners of her eyes and she reached out to tuck a lock of chaotic raven hair behind Leah's ear.

Leah's face turned into her tender touch, eyes closing as she inhaled with a hum. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Swan?"

Bella laughed and rearranged herself against Leah until they were chest-to-chest, cheek-to-cheek again. _God, she felt so good._ Like her body was molded to hold Bella's.

Bella inhaled her sweet scent._ Girlfriend._ It felt right. Maybe because Leah had already carved a place for herself in Bella's heart from the moment they saw each other on the beach. Giving a name to it felt easy. Like turning her face to the sun's glow in the summertime.

"Sure." Elation flowed in her veins with syrupy relief. "Sorry, I don't have flowers."

"Aw, boo." Leah sighed dramatically. "I think that might be a deal-breaker for me…"

Bella swatted her again, giggling gently. "Says the one who's gonna take me to McDonalds as a first date."

Leah smirked and squeezed her; her gaze lidded. "Just one of many, sweetheart."

Bella doesn't have anything cheeky to say to that as her lips fall into a soft smile. It's almost as if she'd imprinted too, because everything she felt with Edward doesn't hold a flame to how she feels now. Leah had an incredible way of making her feel acknowledged without trying. She was patient. She listened and waited and read the sheet music of Bella's body before Bella herself even knew the tune.

It was rare, a relationship where Bella didn't feel disadvantaged or unequal. Sure, Leah was still a wolf and that was a whole other barrel of worms altogether, but Leah was also_ human._

Bella had spent so much of her time looking for what she thought was perfection, she never knew humanity could be so beautiful.

Leah shifted under her, her long arm reached out to Bella's lamp to click it off. They were swallowed by darkness and Bella felt her heart finally slowing, her breaths evened out. She didn't even want to think about how late it was and how much it would suck waking up in the morning.

"Leah?"

"Hmm?" Leah grunted; sounded as if she was on the edge of sleep.

"Thank you."

"For?"

Bella could only sigh because there weren't enough thank you's to repay everything Leah had given her. Crazy to think that it was only the beginning.

"For… you know. Everything." Bella squeezed her eyes shut against the avalanche of emotion.

Leah doesn't reply and Bella wondered if she finally dozed off. She let herself start to doze too. She sunk into the comfort in the soft thud of Leah's heart, in her slow breaths.

"It's you I should be thanking." Leah's lips barely murmur.

"Too bad because I'm thanking you first."

She doesn't see Leah's smile so much as feel its soft stretch against the crown of her head.

"You're welcome."

When she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of sun-drenched skies. Of a smile that never faded, and fingers interlocked with hers, leading her into forever.

.

It seemed like only an instant later that she's blinking groggily, stirring awake. She lay still, burrowed into her pillow and unable to register what awoke her in the first place.

_Knock, knock._ "Bella?"

Bella mumbled something incoherent as her door hinges squeaked and she rolled onto her side to catch her father peeking his head into the room.

"Yeah?" Bella rasped.

"Quarter to seven, kid." Charlie sounded apologetic. "Are you sick?"

"No, no…" Bella yawned, her head heavy as she lifted it. She noticed he was already dressed in his police blues, looking as tired as she felt. "I'll be down in a minute."

Mumbling about putting some coffee on, he shut her door quietly.

The damp, early morning chill filtered in through her cracked open window, her drapes billowing gently. Bella couldn't remember when she opened her window last night.

Last night…

Bella jolted fully awake, her hand flew out to the space next to her only to find it empty. Leah was gone; Her faint scent still clinging to Bella's sheets was the only reminder that Bella hadn't dreamt up last night after all.

She lets herself sink into the soft cocoon, just for a moment.

Something crinkled in the press of fabric and Bella twisted around, hand grasping before coming up with a slightly frumpled piece of paper.

A note? No… a heart. A small, simple origami heart made from a torn piece of notebook paper that fit in the palm of her hand. It was achingly sweet.

Bella hugged it to her chest and wished she could just stay in bed. A bigger part of her wished Leah was there with her.

Was it too late to call in sick?

With a sigh, Bella pushed herself up and out of bed.

Twenty minutes later, she's dressed, teeth brushed, hair brushed, and stepping out into the chilly morning air. The storm seemed to have well and truly passed, the sky gray but not overly cloudy. Her father's cruiser was already gone, and Bella considered skipping school again knowing nobody would really catch her. She just didn't have the energy to face Jennifer Ford and her bitch patrol.

Shoulders slumped, Bella started towards the driveway.

A figure peeled away from her truck and stepped out from under the cover of the trees.

Bella jumped, her pulse skyrocketed before it registered in her brain that it was only Embry.

"Whoa." Embry held up his palms on either side of his bare chest. "Sorry!"

Bella sucked in a lungful of crisp air and gripped the rusty red edge of her truck bed, letting her heart settle as Embry careful eased into the space beside her.

She peeked up at him; He met her gaze, his face tight and apologetic as he brushed his hair back from his forehead with a nervous hand.

Swallowing, Bella tried a smile. "Morning, Emb."

"Hi, honey." He exhaled and shoved his hands in his pockets casually. "I'm sorry… Emily mentioned somethin' about that."

At her furrowed brow, he gave her a kind smile. "She said that it was normal to have an exaggerated startle reflex… after a trauma."

Bella let her bookbag drop into the bed of the truck and frowned down at it. She had startled easily for as long as she could remember… although it only started getting worse after meeting Edward.

"I guess it shows, huh?" She sighed, hating that it made her feel so fragile.

"I'd say you're holding up really good, yanno, considering." He tipped his head and chuckled, his breaths turning wispy in the chill. "You could give the guys a run for their money."

Bella half-smiled. "Lemme guess, they keep things sealed in and let it pent up until it's too late?"

He snorted. "You have no idea. Sometimes they even explode into wolves."

Bella smiled fully at that and played with her keys as her pulse settled. Embry toed at the pebbles, looking as if he was pondering the weather. What was he waiting for?

"So, did you stop by to just to say hi?" She murmured.

"Nope." He gave her a grin that barely concealed his boyish pride. "You didn't think my chauffeur services would end just like that, didja?"

Bella just raised a brow at him and moved around him to tug the driver side door open. "You know school is only like a ten-minute drive, right?"

Embry shrugged and leaned an arm against the open door as she sat. "Boss-man tells you to do something, you do it. Scooch."

Bella huffed. "It's my truck..."

Embry just smiled and folded himself in anyways, not really giving her much of a choice. Bella scooted across the seat begrudgingly and forfeited her keys. Secretly, she was grateful. She'd rather let him drive over her potentially falling asleep at the wheel.

Embry started the truck and maneuvered onto the road. She leaned her head on his shoulder and let his comforting scent soothe her nerves. It wasn't anywhere near Leah's spice, but it was familiar, and it was pack.

"How's Seth?" She whispered, watching the trees flit by.

"Better." He soothed in his baritone. "They got to him in time… Set the breaks so nothin' healed funny. He'll be good as new by next week."

Bella grimaced. Poor Seth. She couldn't help but feel guilty over it. He was just a kid. Sure, he didn't look it but,_ Jesus_, he was only fourteen.

Embry flicked her knee. "Whatever you're thinkin', stop. It's not your fault."

She glanced up at him; his gaze was trained on the road ahead. "How'd you know?" She sniffed humorlessly.

Embry looked as if he couldn't decide between a smile or a frown. "Your breathing changed."

Wow, wolves were scary good with that.

"I just wish…" Bella took a resetting breath. "I hate that I can't do more."

"That's not your burden to carry, Bells. We're all doing the best we can. Besides…" He squeezed her knee, "You gotta take care of you, too."

Bella pondered, letting her mind spin out as they neared the school. It seemed like only a minute later they were pulling into a parking space of the quickly-filling school lot.

Embry silenced the ignition and it was only then that she noticed his hands were shaking subtly. She glanced up to find him watching her with worried eyes.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

Bella lifted her head reluctantly and looked out at the groups of other students. "Yeah." She sighed. "Another day in paradise."

His silence made her glance up again. He gave her a small, tense smile.

"What's wrong?"

"I can hear them talkin' about you." He growled; his eyes darted over her head. "Jeesh… makes me _so_ not miss high school."

_They were talking about her already?_ Bella rubbed a palm over her face. "Didn't you hear? I'm front-page gossip around these parts."

"Must've missed that issue."

"Lucky you."

They shared an empathetic smile before pushing out into the cold. Bella shouldered her bag as Embry came around to meet her.

Her truck stood out like a sore thumb, and people looked over expectantly, though they stared more at Embry than her.

It was strange, because she swore she'd heard the usually bustle quiet just a notch the second he unfolded from her truck. Embry handed her the keys with a cheeky smirk. He must've heard it too.

"Are you picking me up after school?"

"Nah. I think Leah wants to do that."

Bella's heart fluttered in her chest, warm feelings stirring in her stomach. She tried to hide her smile and lost.

"Ouch. Don't miss me too much…" Embry laughed and swung his meaty arms, like he was stretching before a race.

"Sorry, Emb. You know you're my favorite." Bella giggled.

Embry tossed her a grin that was downright adorable. "I know."

The warning bell rang, urging a few students inside. Some of the larger, more stubborn groups lingered, hanging around their cars and chatting casually.

"That's my cue." Bella bumped Embry's arm with her shoulder – it was like nudging a tree. "Get outta here before you get in trouble."

"Trouble is my middle name." He arched a brow over a smirk.

_Yeah, right._ Bella shook her head with a smile and watched as he lifted his chin. The transformation was subtle; He rolled his shoulders back, straightening to his impressive six-foot-four, and held himself so that every bulging, brown muscle flexed for display.

A couple of juniors lingered two spaces over, whispering and staring openly… Until Embry sent them a scathing look, brows furrowed over an intense gaze that meant business.

Faces paling, they turned abruptly and damn-near jogged toward the main building.

Embry turned back with a wink, and Bella burst into laughter. She had to admit, he could look downright scary when he wanted to. It was still so odd to imagine anyone afraid of Embry; He wouldn't hurt a fly.

Until you messed with his pack. Then all bets were off.

"See you later, Bells." He whispered and then sprinted off into the forest.

Bella watched him disappear and then turned towards the school. She was almost alone in the parking lot now, just her, a few students, and a teacher out front who was waving in the stragglers.

She'd faced vampires, werewolves and everything in between, damn it. _She could do this._

Lifting her chin just like Embry had, Bella started walking.

.

* * *

_A/N: Happy 1 year anniversary WOOOOO! Thank you for loving these characters as much as I do. Every word I write is for you! Love ya._

_Im considering putting together a playlist of musics I listen to when I'm writing, would ya'll be interested in that? Do people still do that? lol lemme know_

_Your reviews are my main source of nourishment_


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